Grammodes pulcherrima T.P. Lucas, 1892
Comely Box-Owlet
(one synonym : Grammodes clementi Swinhoe, 1901)
EREBINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Geoff Byrne, Kununurra, Western Australia)

These Caterpillars are green with fine pale lines along the body. The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Sensitive Plant ( Neptunia dimorphantha, FABACEAE ), and
  • Madras Leaf-Flower ( Phyllanthus maderaspatanus, PHYLLANTHACEAE ).


    (Photo: courtesy of Geoff Byrne, Kununurra, Western Australia)

    The pupa is brown, and formed in a sparse cocoon spun between leaves of the foodplant.


    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    This adult moth is brown with diagonal white stripes, and each forewing has an eyespot at the tornus, a white mark on the costa near the wing tip, and a pale recurved submarginal arc.


    (Photo: courtesy of Geoff Byrne, Kununurra, Western Australia)

    The hindwings are brown, each with a diagonal white band. The wingspan is about 3 cms.


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

    The species occurs in Australia in:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 21.5, p. 453.

    Peter Hendry,
    The genus Grammodes (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae; EREBINAE),
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 62 (September 2011), pp. 19-21.

    Thomas P. Lucas,
    On twenty new species of Australian Lepidoptera.,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 2, Volume 7 (1892), pp. 258-259.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
    Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 20-21.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 141.


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    (updated 27 February 2011, 9 May 2019, 24 August 2020)