Epicoma derbyana Strand, 1929
THAUMETOPOEINAE,   NOTODONTIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Epicoma derbyana
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

These caterpillars are black and very hairy, with a brown head. The caterpillars have a brown tuft on the back of each segment, and a white line along each side above the legs.

Epicoma derbyana
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The caterpillars feed on the leaves of

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE )

    Epicoma derbyana
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

    The caterpillars feed communally in broad daylight.

    Epicoma derbyana
    cocoon in leaf litter
    (Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

    The caterpillars pupate in pale dense silk cocoons under leaf litter underneath their food tree.

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

    The forewings of thadult moths are white, each with a lot of brown speckles, a subterminal brown line, and a brown band along the margin containing a row of white spots, and chequered edges. The hindwings are brown, and also have a marginal row of white spots and chequered edges. The thorax is brown and very hairy. Tha abdomen is black, tipped with a bunch of golden hairs. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

    Epicoma derbyana
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The species is found in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Epicoma derbyana
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)


    Further reading

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 178.

    Embrik Strand,
    Indo-Australian Bombyces and Sphinges,
    in Adalbert Seitz (ed.): The Macrolepidoptera of the World,
    Stuttgart : Alfred Kernen Verlag, Part 10 (1929), p. 376.


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    (updated 12 March 2010, 20 August 2018, 28 March 2019)