Ophiusa tirhaca (Cramer, 1777)
(one synonym : Anua clementi Swinhoe, 1918)
Green Drab
EREBINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Ophiusa tirhaca
male
Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

The Caterpillars of this species have been found feeding on plants from a variety of families, including

  • Terebinth ( Pistacia terebinthus, ANACARDIACEAE ),
  • Daphne (Daphne, THYMELAEACEAE )
  • Heather ( Erica, ERICACEAE )
  • Sandalwood ( Osyris, SANTALACEAE )
  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus, MYRTACEAE )
  • Bushwillow ( Combretum, COMBRETACEAE )
  • Viburnum ( Viburnum, CAPRIFOLIACEAE )
  • Rock Rose ( Cistus, CISTACEAE ).

    Ophiusa tirhaca
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The female adult moth has brown forewings, each with a darker broad irregular band along the margin, a dark spot near the middle, and a black mark about halfway along the costa.

    Ophiusa tirhaca
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Western Australia)

    The male adult moth has greenish forewings, each with a pattern similar to that of the female

    Ophiusa tirhaca
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Western Australia)

    The hindwings of both sexes are yellow, each having a broad but broken dark submarginal band. The wingspan is about 7 cms.

    Ophiusa tirhaca
    male, drawing by Pieter Cramer, listed as Phalaena tirhaca
    ,
    Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 2 (1777), Plate CLXXII, fig. E,
    Image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species occurs in :

  • Europe,
  • Africa,
  • Asia,

    and also in Australia in

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

    Ophiusa tirhaca
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Western Australia)


    Further reading :

    Pieter Cramer,
    Description de Papillons Exotiques,
    Uitlandsche kapellen voorkomende in de drie waereld-deelen,
    Amsterdam Baalde, Volume 2 (1777), p. 116, and also Plate 172, fig. E.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 8,
    Night Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA(B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2017, pp. 22-23.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 146.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 23.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 26 October 2011, 17 September 2022)