Chrysodeixis subsidens (Walker, 1858)
Australian Cabbage Looper
(one synonym : Plusia pseudochalcytes)
PLUSIINAE,   NOCTUIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Chrysodeixis subsidens
(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, New South Wales)

Caterpillars of this species are semi-loopers because some of their ventral prolegs are reduced and this makes them move looper fashion, like the caterpillars of GEOMETRIDAE.

The caterpillar is an agricultural pest at times, attacking:

  • Cabbage ( Brassica oleracea, BRASSICACEAE ),
  • Silver Beet ( Beta vulgaris cicla, CHENOPODIACEAE ),
  • Spearmint ( Mentha spicata, LAMIACEAE ), and
  • Tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum, SOLANACEAE ).

    They also attack other plants such as:

  • Capeweed ( Arctotheca calendula, ASTERACEAE ).

    Chrysodeixis subsidens

    The adult moth is predominently brown in colour, with bunched hairs on its head which look like a short pair of horns. On each forewing is a silvery figure of eight, usually with the segments fused together, unlike its kindred species: Chrysodeixis eriosoma, in which the parts are separated. The hindwings are fawn in colour with a dark brown terminal area. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Chrysodeixis subsidens

    The species occurs over the south Pacific, and much of Australia, including

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

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


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 48.16, pp. 65, 460.

    Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish
    Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
    Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 8-9.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 15 (1858), p. 1787, pg. 933.


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    (updated 10 August 2011, 27 October 2020)