Chora plana Warren, 1916
(one synonym: Aiteta plinthophora Turner, 1920)
CHLOEPHORINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA,  
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Chora plana
(Photo: courtesy of USDA-ARS/CSIRO Australian Biological Control Lab, Indooroopilly, Queensland).

This Caterpillar looks as though it had an arguement with a balloon. The caterpillar is green or pale brown with an expanded nearly spherical thorax. The abdomen has a dark dorsal stripe, and a darker lateral stripe each side. The caterpillar also has a pair of brown horns on its tail.

Chora plana
(Photo: courtesy of Anne Lord , Townsville, Queensland).

It has been found feeding on :

  • Golden Penda ( Xanthostemon chrysanthus, MYRTACEAE ), and
  • Blake Paperbark ( Melaleuca quinquenervia, MYRTACEAE ).

    Chora plana
    (Photo: courtesy of Invasive Plant Research Laboratory, Fort Lauderdale, Florida).

    It pupates in a papery white cocoon on the underside of a leaf of its foodplant.

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

    The adult moth has brown forewings, each with two dark blotches on the hind margin. The hindwings are pale brown, fading toward the bases. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

    The species is found in

  • Queensland.

    The species is being studied as a possible biological control agent for infestations of Melaleuca in Florida.


    Further reading :

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

    William Warren,
    New oriental Noctuidae in the Tring Museum,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 23 (1916), p. 227, No. 70.


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    (updated 24 October 2012, 25 November 2018, 10 December 2019, 13 February 2021)