and is sometimes a pest on:

They have also been found feeding on :

male adult
(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The male moths have well developed wings, that are a speckled fawn with a complex pattern of curvy dark brown and orange lines and patches.

close-up of male adult showing hairs around neck
(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The male moths have a collar of long hair-like scales each side of the head. The male moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

female adult
(Photo: courtesy of Lyn Loger, Nathalia, Victoria)

The female moths have undeveloped wings, with brown and orange stripes. The females cannot fly. They do rather resemble a spider.

female underside
(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The species occurs in :

A similar species Zermizinga indocilisaria occurs in New Zealand.

male underside
(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 67.

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. 119.

William Warren,
New genera and species of moths from the Old-world regions in the Tring Museum,
Novitates Zoologicae,
Volume 4 (1897), p. 95, No. 225.

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(updated 31 March 2013, 16 September 2013, 18 March 2018, 11 May 2021)