Aquita tactalis (Walker, 1863)
Tactile Tuft-moth
 (erroneously : Zia tactilis)
NOLINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley and
Brett and Marie Smith

Aquita tactalis
(Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

These Caterpillars are hairy and grey, with a fine pattern of white lines, a broad off-white line along the back, and four off-white or dark grey verrucae on each segment sprouting white and black hairs. Two long white hairs sprout from behind the head.

Aquita tactalis
(Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

There is a pale orange knob on the back of each of the two penultimate abdominal segments.

Aquita tactalis
head, close-up
(Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

The head is black with a brown stripe down the middle. The legs are orange.

Aquita tactalis
true legs, close-up
(Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

The caterpillars feed on various species of MYRTACEAE, for example :

  • Teatree ( Leptospermum species), and
  • Slender Honey Myrtle ( Melaleuca gibbosa ).

    Aquita tactalis
    cocoons on a twig
    (Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

    The caterpillars pupate in dense cocoons on a twig of the foodplant.

    Aquita tactalis
    (Photo: courtesy of Nadine Brown, Gawler Ranges, South Australia)

    The adult moth has fawn and brown forewings with an indistinct pattern, including two triangular white streaks, a white area by the wingtips, and a complex dark knot near the middle. It has several areas of raised scales on the forewings. The hindwings are pale brown darkening toward the margins. The moth has a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    It is found over most of the southern half of Australia, including

  • New South Waes,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Aquita tactalis
    (Specimen: courtesy of Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 47.17, p. 456.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 159.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
    Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 32-33.

    Francis Walker,
    Crambites & Tortricites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 27 (1863), p. 110, No. 1.

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    (updated 1 March 2011, 1 May 2018, 20 April 2022)