| Black-bodied Browntail Moth (one synonym : Porthesia mixta) LYMANTRIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
|
| Black-bodied Browntail Moth (one synonym : Porthesia mixta) LYMANTRIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
This Caterpillar is easy to identify. It is black and hairy, with two bright red spots on its back (on abdominal segments six and seven). The red spots indicate the position of dorsal glands.
It eats the leaves and flowers of many garden plants and weeds including :
The caterpillar grows to a length of about 3 cms.
It pupates in thin brown cocoon under a leaf or petal of its foodplant.
After about two weeks in summer, the adult moth emerges. It is white all over, except for its conspicuous black compound eyes, and although the abdomen is often initially white, often it becomes black. The female has a yellow tuft on its tail.
The scales on its wings are very loose, and rub off at the slightest handling. It has a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The female moth lays her eggs in long disorganised strings, and covers them in hairs from her tail.
The species occurs in:
Further reading :
Arthur G. Butler,
On a Small Collection of Lepidoptera from Melbourne,
The Annals and Magazine of Natural History; Zoology, Botany, and Geology,
Fifth Series, Volume IX, No. 50 (1882), pp. 87-88, No. 14.
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: part 2,
Tiger Moths and their Allies - Noctuoidea (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 16-19.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 2 August 2010, 25 November 2014, 28 October 2020, 16 February 2022)