Thyas miniacea (R. Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)
(one synonym is Thyas regia Lucas, 1894)
CALPINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


female
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

These caterpillars have been found feeding on the trees and vines in the False Almond family (COMBRETACEAE), including :

  • Rangoon Creeper ( Quisqualis indica ), and
  • False Almond ( Terminalia catappa ).


    male


    female
    (Photos: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)

    The adult moths are reddish-brown, with a mark like a comma on each forewing, and a broad black submarginal band on each hindwing. The undersides are plain brown. The wingspan is can reach over 9 cms.


    female, drawing by Felder & Rogenhofer, listed as Lagoptera regia
    ,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CXVI, fig. 8,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species occurs as various subspecies across the south Pacific including

  • New Guinea,
  • Palau,
  • Philippines,

    and as subspecies regia TP Lucas, 1894, in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.


    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Lagoptera regia
    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume XII (1913), Plate CCXIII, figure 6,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 21.4, p. 454.

    Rudolf Felder & Alois F. Rogenhofer,
    Zoologischer Theil: Lepidoptera,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), p. 12, and also Plate 116, fig. 8.

    Thomas P. Lucas,
    Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera, with additional Localities for known Species,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 2, Volume 8, Part 2 (1894), pp. 151-152.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 156.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 24 June 2011, 9 June 2014, 18 September 2022)