Comana collaris Walker, 1865
LIMACODIDAE,   ZYGAENOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


head spikes collapsed
(Photo: courtesy of Joshua Green, Townsville, Queensland)

These Caterpillars sting. This caterpillar is green, with a broad reddish dorsal band outlined with a dark wavy line. The caterpillar has a row of red spikes of stinging hairs along each side of the body, and a row of one each side of the dorsal line on the back of each segment, excepting the second and antipenultimate segments.


head spikes everted
(Photo: courtesy of Joshua Green, Townsville, Queensland)

The spikes near the head are normally collapsed, but are everted when the animal feels threatened.


cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Joshua Green, Townsville, Queensland)

The caterpillar has been found feeding on

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillar pupates in a hard brown ellipsoidal cocoon spun in amongst ground litter.


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

    The adult moths of this species are pale green, with rusty red legs and prothorax. The green colour fades in museum specimens. The wingspan is about 4 cms.


    Female
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The species occurs particularly inland in:

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


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Joshua Green, Townsville, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 29.5, p. 302.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 105.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 32 Supplement 2 (1865), p. 496.


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    (written 13 November 2007, updated 4 January 2012, 18 September 2015)