Pernattia pusilla (Donovan, 1805)
She-Oak Moth
 (one synonym is: Perna exposita Lewin, 1805)
GASTROPACHINAE,   LASIOCAMPIDAE,   BOMBYCOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Pernattia pusilla
(Photo: courtesy of Elaine McDonald, Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania)

This is a grey and brown, hairy Caterpillar with a black-bordered narrow pale dorsal line, interrupted by a black tuft of hairs on the back of each of the first four segments, the fourth being taller than the other three, and pale tufts on the remaining segments, except the last segment which has a black tuft. The five segments with pale tufts also each have a pair of black-tipped warts. The head has a black collar, and the caterpillar can also display a red and blue collars behind the head. The lateral hairs hang down camouflaging the prolegs. The head is large, and looks as though it has a white nose and speckled black and white cheeks.

Pernattia pusilla
(Photo: courtesy of Elaine McDonald, Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania)

It feeds on various species of She-Oak ( CASUARINACEAE ), including :

  • Black She-Oak ( Allocasuarina litoralis ),
  • Drooping She-Oak ( Allocasuarina verticillata )
  • River She-Oak ( Casuarina cunninghamiana ),
  • Swamp She-Oak ( Casuarina glauca ), and
  • Australian Pine ( Casuarina equisetifolia ).

    Pernattia pusilla
    close-up of head
    (Photo: courtesy of Wendy McFarlane, Old Erowal Bay, New South Wales)

    When disturbed, the caterpillar lets go, and drops to the ground. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 3 cms.

    Pernattia pusilla
    (Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney)

    It pupates on its foodplant in a white cocoon sparsely decorated with hairs from the caterpillar's body.

    Pernattia pusilla
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln Junior Primary School, South Australia)

    The male and female adult moths are very different.

    Pernattia pusilla
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Elaine McDonald, Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania)

    The females are grey, stout, and slow, with forewings each traversed by three zigzag dark lines. The females have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Pernattia pusilla
    male adult
    (Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney)

    The males are smaller, have a more contrasting wing pattern, and fly faster. The males have a wingspan about 2 cms.

    Pernattia pusilla
    male adult
    (Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 1)

    The species has been found in Australia, in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Pernattia pusilla
    female adult
    (Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 1)

    The eggs are oval and white and grey, with a dark spot. They are laid in irregular open groups on leaves or twigs of a food tree.

    Pernattia pusilla
    female laying eggs
    (Photo: courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln, South Australia)

    Pernattia pusilla
    female, underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Katarina Christenson, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)

    Pernattia pusilla
    male, underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Katarina Christenson, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)

    Further reading :

    Pat and Mike Coupar,
    Flying Colours,
    New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 59.

    Edward Donovan,
    General Illustration of Entomology,
    An Epitome of the Natural History of the Insects of New Holland, New Zealand, New Guinea, Otaheite and other Islands in the Indian, Southern and Pacific Oceans,
    London (1803), Part 1, p. 159, and also Plate on p. 158.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 1,
    Silk Moths and Allies - BOMBYCOIDEA    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2008, pp. 6-9.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 101.

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    (updated 24 August 2012, 10 November 2025)