Dysgonia senex

Dysgonia senex (Walker, 1858)
(formerly known as Ophiusa senex)
EREBINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Dysgonia senex
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are brown, with a lot of thin pale stripes along the body.

(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy Queensland)

The tail has a pair a short red horns, and there is a small black spot each side of the first abdominal segment. The legs are pink. The head is off-white with a pattern of brown zigzag markings.

(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy Queensland)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on

Snowball Bush (Flueggea virosa, PHYLLANTHACEAE).

The caterpillars grow to a length of about 6 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy Queensland)

Pupation occurs in a flimsy off-white cocoon spun between joined leaves. The pupa is brown, with a length of about 2 cms.

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

The adult moths have variable broad curving patterns of light and dark brown patches on the forewings, and suffused light and dark areas on the hindwings.

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

The wingspan is about 5 cms.

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

The species has been found in

Western Australia,

Northern Territory, and

Queensland.

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

Further reading :

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 133.

Francis Walker,
Noctuidae,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 15 (1858), pp. 1832-1833, ref. 1435.

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(updated 10 March 2010, 2 December 2014, 29 September 2019, 6 March 2021)