Amerila crokeri (W.S.Macleay, 1826)
Croker's Frother
 (formerly known as Euprepia crokeri)
ARCTIINI,   ARCTIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Amerila crokeri
(Photo: Geoff Byrne, Kununurra, Western Australia)

The adult moth of this species has grey-brown wings with large areas of transparency. The bases of the forewings are white. The head and thorax are white with black dots. The legs and abdomen are red. The moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms.

Amerila crokeri
moth "frothing"
(Photo: Don herbison-Evans, Bundaberg, Queensland)

The moth has an amazing "frothing" defence mechanism, shared by other moths of the genus Amerila. When disturbed, it exudes a frothy yellow fluid from glands beside the eyes, and makes a sizzling noise!

Amerila crokeri
(Photo: Don herbison-Evans, Bundaberg, Queensland)

The species is found in :

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Amerila crokeri
    showing wing undersides
    (Photo: courtesy of Graham McDonald, Mudgeeraba, Queensland)


    illustration on the jacket of Moths of Australia,
    Ian F.B. Common,, 535 pp, Melbourne University Press, 1990.

    Further reading :

    David Carter,
    Butterflies and Moths,
    Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 277.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 434.

    Peter Hendry,
    The Australian Arctiid Moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea: Erebidae) with emphasis on Creatonotos Gangis,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 65 (June 2012), pp. 6-8,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Graham McDonald,
    Weird and Wonderful Moths,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 78 (September 2015), pp. 11-15, fig. 12,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    William Sharp Macleay,
    Annulosa,
    in Philip Parker King :
    Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia,
    Volume 2 (1826), Appendix B, pp. 465-466, No. 169.

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    (updated 12 September 2011, 16 July 2023)