Chora huntei (Warren, 1903)
 (one synonym: Carea plagioscia Turner, 1903)
CHLOEPHORINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA,  
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Chora huntei
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

This Caterpillar is quite unusual as it has a large rounded swelling at the back of the thorax, and a pair of horns on the tail. The caterpillar is basically brown with a few white dots, and a pale line along each side of the back. Th tail horns are black. The caterpillars have been found feeding on various plant species in MYRTACEAE, including

  • Bamaga Satinash ( Syzygium tierneyanum ), and
  • Golden Penda ( Xanthostemon chrysanthus ).

    Chora huntei
    cocoon
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    The caterpillar pupates in papery white cocoon between joined leaves of its foodplant.

    Chora huntei
    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    The pupa inside is off-white underneath, shading to brown on top.

    Chora huntei
    female
    (Specimen: courtesy of Paul Dangerfield, Jane Royer, and Aurea King,
    Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries,
    and Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The adult female moths of this species have patchy grey and brown forewings, each with a subtle pattern including a straightish submarginal line. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

    Chora huntei
    female
    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The adult male moths also have brown forewings, each with a subtle pattern including a straightish diagonal line. The wingspan is about 4 cms.

    Chora huntei
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Carol and Trevor Deane, Whyanbeel, Queensland)

    The forewing costa, termen, and hind-margin of both sexes are all sinuously curved. The hindwings of both sexes each have a concave bite out of the tornus. The hindwings are plain greyish brown.

    Chora huntei
    female
    (Specimen: courtesy of Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species has been found overseas in

  • Indonesia,
  • New Guinea,

    Chora huntei
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Bart Hacobian, Millaa Millaa, Queensland)

    The species has been found in Australia in

  • Queensland.

    Chora huntei
    male, underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Julatten, Queensland)

    Chora huntei
    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume XI (1912), Plate CLXXXVIII, figure 25,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    Further reading :

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 168.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    New Australian Lepidoptera, with synonymic and other notes: Noctuidae,
    Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
    Volume 27 (1903), pp. 7-8.

    William Warren,
    New moths from British New Guinea,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 10 (1903), p. 123, No. 8.

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    (updated 31 August 2013, 19 March 2017, 10 December 2019)