Hyblaea puera (Cramer, 1777)
(one synonym: Nabara saga)
Teak Defoliator
HYBLAEIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Ian F.B. Common & Stella Crossley


(Photo from: Moths of Australia)

The Caterpillars of this species are brown with a pair of narrow yellow lines along each side enclosing a dark brown band. The Caterpillar is a pest overseas on :

  • Teak ( Tectona grandis, VERBENACEAE ),

    and they also feed on :

  • White Mangrove ( Avicennia marina, ACANTHACEAE ),
  • Bignonia species ( BIGNONIACEAE ),
  • Catalpa species ( BIGNONIACEAE ),
  • Cork Tree ( Millingtonia hortensis, BIGNONIACEAE ),
  • Spathodea species ( BIGNONIACEAE ), and
  • Vitex trifolia ( VERBENACEAE ).

    The eggs are laid on the undersides of the leaves. The Caterpillar cuts a semicircular piece of leaf and folds or rolls it over to form a shelter. The mature Caterpillar often lives in this shelter by day, and feeds nocturnally.


    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The adult moth has a wing span of about 4 cms. It is brown with a yellow arc or series of blotches on each hind wing.


    underside
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    Underneath, the forewings are brown with two yellow marks on the costa of each forewing, and orange under each hindwing with a dark mark at the tornus.

    The eggs are laid singly, on the underside of young foodplant leaves, often near the central vein.

    The species is known across south-east Asia, including

  • Bangladesh,
  • India,
  • New Guinea,
  • Thailand,
    as well as in Australia in
  • north Queensland,

    and has recently been reported Central America and Africa, including :

  • Guadeloupe,
  • Surinam.

    The species appears to migrate with the Monsoon winds. Efforts are being made to control the pest using :

  • Neem Extract,
  • the insecticides Deltamethrin, Cypermethrin, and Monocrotophos,
  • a Nucleopolyhedrovirus (HpNPV),
  • the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis ( BACILLACEAE ),
  • the Fungi Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae, and
  • a wasp Sympiesis species ( EULOPHIDAE ).

    although these may be of little value given the migratory behaviour of the moths.

    Further reading :

    M.W.Baksha and M.J. Crawley,
    Population dynamics of teak defoliator, Hyblaea puera Cram. (Lep., Hyblaeidae) in teak plantations of Bangladesh, Journal of Applied Entomology, Volume 122, no. 2-3 (1998) pp. 79-83

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 334, 336-337.

    S. Lakanavichian and B. Napompeth,
    Ecological study on teak defoliators, Hyblaea puera and Eutectona machaeralis in Thailand, Proceedings IUFRO Workshop on Pests and Diseases of Forest Plantations, Bangkok (Thailand), 5-11 Jun 1988 Chaweewan Hutacharern, K.G. MacDicken, M.H.Ivory, and K.S.S. Nair (eds.), International Union of Forestry Research Organizations, Vienna (Austria); Royal Forest Dept., Bangkok (Thailand); FAO, Bangkok (Thailand). Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 1990, p. 155-166.

    K.S.S. Nair and V.V. Sudheendrakumar,
    The teak defoliator, Hyblaea puera: Defoliation dynamics and evidence for short-range migration of moths, Proceedings of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Animal Sciences), Volume 95, no. 1 (1986), pp. 7-21.

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

    (updated 19 May 2011)