Donuca lanipes (Butler, 1877)
 (previously known as Calliodes lanipes)
CATOCALINI,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Ros Runciman & Brian Wilson, Dungog, New South Wales)

These caterpillars are basically grey with a stripy pattern when young. There are yellow bands between the first and second segments, and between the second and third segments. The caterpillars are missing the first set of prolegs, and the second set are reduced. The 'face' is pale and nearly rectangular, outlined in black, and that outlined in rusty brown.


early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Ros Runciman & Brian Wilson, Dungog, New South Wales)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Prickly Moses (Acacia ulicifolia, MIMOSACEAE)


    late instar
    (Photo: courtesy of Ros Runciman & Brian Wilson, Dungog, New South Wales)

    The caterpillars hide by day in vegetation at the foot of the foodplant, and ascend the bush at dusk to feed nocturnally, descending at dawn to hide again.


    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Ros Runciman & Brian Wilson, Dungog, New South Wales)

    The pupa is brown, with a lenth of about 3 cms..


    (Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

    The adult moth has a dark subtle pattern, including scalloped markings along the margins, an eyespot on each forewing, and with a bold diagonal white line across each wing. The wingspan is about 6 cms.

    The resting posture has the white lines on all four wings aligned to look like a smiling mouth of a monster with a pair of eyes above and a row of teeth below Curiously: the moth often likes to face downwards when resting, which rather interferes with the monster illusion.


    (Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

    The species is found over the north-east quarter of Australia, including:

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Trevor Jinks, North Burnett, Queensland)

    The eggs are white and spherical, each with about 25 ridges, and a diameter of about 0.5 mm. The eggs are laid in small groups on a stem of a foodplant.


    eggs , highly magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Ros Runciman & Brian Wilson, Dungog, New South Wales)

    Further reading :

    Arthur G. Butler,
    Descriptions of Three Lepidopterous Insects from Queensland,
    Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,
    Volume 14 (1877), pp. 109-110.

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

    Peter Hendry,
    At the Light Trap: Records of daytime flying moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Agaristinae) and the genus Donuca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: catocalini),
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 55 (December 2009), pp. 24-27,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 132.

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    (updated 22 March 2013, 12 March 2024)