Guava Moth (one synonym: Minucia indiscriminata Hampson, 1893) CALPINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Robert Whyte, Brisbane, Queensland)
The Caterpillar of this species is a patchy pale brown with dark wiggly lines along the body. There are a pair of small knobs on the last segment. It has two pairs of undeveloped prolegs, so moves in a looper fashion.
The caterpillar feeds on various species of MYRTACEAE, including :
and is sometimes a pest on :
The caterpillar pupates in a loose coccoon in a curled dead leaf amongst the ground litter.
The adult moths of this species are purplish-brown, with a dark kidney-shaped mark near the centre of each forewing, and often a purple spot at each forewing tip. Each hindwing has a broad black mark along the margin. The wingspan is about 7 cms.
The species occurs as several subspecies over south-east Asia and the south Pacific, including :
as well as in Australia in:
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 21.3, p. 454.
George Francis Hampson,
The Macrolepidoptera Heterocera of Ceylon,
Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the collection of the British Museum,
Part 9 (1893), p. 111, and also
Plate 176, fig. 23 (larva).
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 22-23.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 145.
Francis Walker,
Noctuidae,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 14 (1858), pp. 1360-1361, No. 16.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 14 August 2012, 25 March 2016, 17 August 2021)