| (also known as Darala serranotata) EUPTEROTIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)
|
| (also known as Darala serranotata) EUPTEROTIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)
The Caterpillars of this species are yellow with a red head, and a two sets of red verricae separated by a broken black line along the back, and with a row of orange verrucae along each side, with long white hairs.
The caterpillars have been found feeding on the foliage of:
The caterpillars grow to a length of about 6 cms. They pupate in the ground litter in an ellipsoidal silk cocoon. The cocoon has a length of about 3 cms.
The adult moths have dimorphic wing patterns, although both sexes have orange abdomen.
The female is brown with pale patches and veins, a prominent white spot on each forewing, The hindwings are plainer. All four wings each have a broad dark transverse line, and a pale zig-zag line along the margin. The female moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms.
The males vary from off-white to brown, with two dark stripes across each wing. The hindwings are usually darker. They have a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The species occurs in the tropical north of Australia in
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pls. 14.1, 14.6. p. 399.
Thomas P. Lucas,
On Queensland and other Australian Macro-Lepidoptera,
with Localities and Descriptions of new Species,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 8, Part 2 (1894), p. 138.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 55.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 157.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 30 March 2009, 12 June 2019, 9 May 2021)