The caterpillars are grey and black, with orange or pink verrucae along each side, and yellow speckles on its back and underside. Also two white lines run along the back. The caterpillars have long fine hairs which project to the front, to the rear, and sideways. They grew to a length of about 1.5 cms.

empty pupa and discarded final instar larval skin, in cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Harold McQueen, Goodna, Queensland)

They each formed a pupa inside a net-like cocoon made of silk and larval hairs, attached to the bark.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Merlin Crossley, Melbourne, Victoria)

The adult male moth has a pattern of light and dark grey on the forewings. The pattern is very varaiable. Pale specimens have nearly white forewings with a sparse network of dark lines. Dark specimens have nearly black forewings with a few white spots. The hindwings are less variable, and usually orange with a black apical patch, and with a black border that does not extend as far as the tornus. The wingspan of the males is about 1.5 cms.

dark and pale forms of male courting a female
(Photo: courtesy of Harold McQueen, Goodna, Queensland)

The adult female has a length of about 1 cm. She has vestigial wings and cannot fly, and has a brown hairy body with mauve bands. The female stays near her cocoon, and the male copulates with her there. The eggs are laid on the cocoon.

depleted female having laid eggs on her cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Eileen Collins, Chiltern, Victoria)

The species has been found in