Photos: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

The adult moths of this species vary from pale to dark blotchy brown with a varied pattern. Often there is a white line across each forewing. Often each forewing has a white spot outlined in black. The hindwings are half black and half yellow, The moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms.

(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The species is found mainly in coastal areas of

male, drawing by Achille Guenée, Ommatophoridae,
in Boisduval & Guenée: Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
Volume 7 (1852), Plate 19, fig. 1,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Control of the caterpillars is possible using Dipel (Bt), Endosulfan or Methomyl.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 20.6, p. 448.

Achille Guenée,
Ommatophoridae,
in Boisduval & Guenée:
Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
Volume 7 (1852), p. 129, No. 1502, and also Plate 19, fig. 1.

Peter Hendry,
Different but the same,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 63 (December 2011), pp. 6-9,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 147.

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(updated 8 August 2012, 19 April 2017, 8 April 2021)