Carthaea saturnioides

Carthaea saturnioides Walker, 1858
CARTHAEIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

The Caterpillars of this species have 2 rows of eyespots along the back, and feed in broad daylight. They feed on various species of PROTEACEAE :

Spider Flowers ( Grevillea ),

Candle Flowers ( Banksia ), and

Parrot Flowers ( Dryandra ).

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The adult moths are brown with an eyespot on each wing. When disturbed, they depress the head and abdomen, spread the wings, and incline the wings forward thus exposing the eyespots on the hindwings. The hindwings are then oscillated from side to side, presumably drawing attention to the eyespots as a defence mechanism. The moths have a wingspan of about 8 cms.

The species occurs only in the south-west of Australia.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 14.12, figs. 119.1, 119.2.3, 119.4, pp. 402-403.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 160.