(Photo: courtesy of Nora Peters, Toolern Vale, near Melton, Victoria)

The adult moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms. Originally, the male and female moths were thought to be different species because they look so different.

Female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The female adult moth is white with a broad black line along each forewing ending in a black bar at the base. The body has alternate black and orange bands.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The male has fawn forewings speckled with black dots, and has pale hindwings.

(Photos : courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins and Sam,
Port Lincoln Junior Primary School, South Australia)

The species is found over the southern half of Australia, including

eggs (magnified)
(Photo : courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln Junior Primary School, South Australia)

The eggs of this species are white and oval. They are laid in small groups and covered in hairs by the female moth.

Female laying eggs on a She-Oak
(Photo: courtesy of Eileen Collins, Chiltern, Victoria)

Further reading :

David Carter,
Butterflies and Moths, Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 249.

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, figs. 42.13, 42.14, pl.30.6, p. 424.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Vol 2: Noctuoidea(A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 5-7.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 172.

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(updated 16 March 2012)