| Cape Gooseberry Budworm (one synonym : Heliothis succinea Moore, 1881) HELIOTHINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
Photo: courtesy of Marcus Matthews,
Heliothine Moths of Australia:
A Guide to Pest Bollworms and Related Noctuid Groups
These Caterpillars are pale green with a variable number of dark lines along the back, and a broad pale line along each side. Sometimes the caterpillar has a row of orange spots along each side of the back.
The caterpillars are sometimes a pest, attacking various plants in the family SOLANACEAE, including :
The adult moths have a complex subtle brown pattern on the forewings. The hindwings are yellowish orange, with a broad brown margin containing a pale mark. The wingspan is about 3 cms.
The pheromones of this species have been studied. The species can interbreed with Helicoverpa armigera to produce viable offspring.
Attempts to control the pest include:
The species occurs from Africa to the south Pacific, including :
as well as in Australia in:
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. Fig. 50.10, 65, 468-469.
Achille Guenée,
Noctuélites,
in Boisduval & Guenée:
Histoire Naturelle des Insectes; Spécies Général des Lépidoptères,
Volume 9, Part 6 (1852), pp. 178-179, No. 928.
Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish,
Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 34-35.
Marcus Matthews,
Heliothine Moths of Australia:
A Guide to Pest Bollworms and Related Noctuid Groups,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1999, pp. 5, 12, 115-119, 187-188, 201-202,
Plates 11, 15, 20, 22, 23.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 161.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 8 August 2012, 7 September 2017, 9 January 2021)