Hypocala deflorata Fabricius, 1794
(one synonym : Hypocala moorei Butler, 1892)
Sharp-nosed Underwing
CALPINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hypocala deflorata
(Photo: courtesy of Mena Stoke, Sheldon, Queensland)

This Caterpillar is black with wavy white lines along the body, and with a yellow line along each side, a yellow head, and yellow knobs on the thorax and the tail. The head has a black line each side. The caterpillar has been found feeding on various plants in EBENACEAE including

  • Poison Star Apple (Diospyros dichrophylla), and
  • Black Sapote (Diospyros nigra).

    Hypocala deflorata
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The adult moth has patchy brown forewings, each with an outlined curved pale area at the tornus. The hindwings are yellow with brown markings, including a broad brown band along the margin. The hindwings each have a notch out of the margin at the tornus. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

    The moth attacks fruit, penetrating the skin to suck juice.

    Hypocala deflorata
    (Photo: courtesy of the Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found around the tropics from Africa to the South Pacific, including

  • Borneo,
  • Botswana,
  • Hawaii,
  • India,
  • New Zealand,
  • Sumatra,

    and in Australia in

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.

    Hypocala deflorata
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Mena Stoke, Sheldon, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Johan Christian Fabricius,
    Entomologia Systematica Emendata et Aucta,
    Tome 3, Part 2 (1793), pp. 127-128, No. 3.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
    Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 18-19.


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    (written 1 November 2014, updated 17 August 2019, 20 August 2021, 10 March 2022)