Synemon theresa Doubleday, 1846
Cryptic Sun Moth
(one synonym : Synemon mopsa Doubleday, 1846)
CASTNIIDAE,   SESIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Synemon theresa
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

The Caterpillars of this species have been feeding amongst the roots of

  • Common Wallaby Grass ( Rytidosperma caespitosum ), and
  • Slender Wallaby Grass ( Rytidosperma racemosum ),

    both in POACEAE.

    The adult moths have brown wings, with a substantial pattern of white markings on the forewings, and orange markings on the hindwings.

    Synemon theresa
    drawing by Arthur G. Butler,

    Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the collection of the British Museum,
    Part 1 (1877), Plate 3, fig. 5,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Gerstein Library, University of Toronto.

    The eggs are initially pale brown but become white. They are laid in the bases of tussocks of foodplants.

    This species is found in

  • Victoria, and
  • South Australia.

    Synemon theresa
    drawing by Arthur G. Butler, listed as Synemon mopsa,

    Illustrations of typical specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the collection of the British Museum,
    Part 1 (1877), Plate 3, fig. 3,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Gerstein Library, University of Toronto.

    The


    Further reading:

    Edward Doubleday,
    Descriptions of some new or imperfectly characterized Lepidoptera from Australia,
    in J.L. Stokes:
    Discoveries in Australia,
    London : T. & W. Boone Vol. 1 (1846), pp. 517-518.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 73.


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    (written 3 February 2005, updated 10 April 2017, 9 October 2019, 30 July 2021)