Buckleria paludum (Zeller, 1839)
Marsh Plume Moth
(one synonym : Trichoptilus ceramodes Meyrick, 1886)
PTEROPHORINAE,   PTEROPHORIDAE,   PTEROPHORIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Buckleria paludum
(Photo: courtesy Carol Deane, Sydney, New South Wales)

This Caterpillar feeds on plants in DROSERACEAE including:

  • Spoon-leaved Sundew ( Drosera spatulata ).

    Buckleria paludum
    (Photo: courtesy of Harold McQueen, North Maclean, Queensland)

    The caterpillar has a pale brown head and thorax, and a white or pink or green abdomen. The colour seems to vary with the colour of the plant on which it is feeding, perhaps adding some camouflage. The abdominal segments each also have a pair of brown dorsal nodules, and prominent bristles.

    The pupa is typically attached to a stem of the foodplant.

    Buckleria paludum
    (Photo: courtesy of Dominic Funnell, Mission River, Queensland)

    The moth has wings with a pattern of white and brown markings, and has spiny legs and multilobed wings. The wingspan is about 1.2 cms.

    Buckleria paludum
    (Photo: courtesy of Marko Mutanen and the Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species is endemic to Europe, including

  • Germany,
  • Russia, and
  • United Kingdom,

    but has also be found in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory (listed as Trichoptilus ceramodes),
  • Victoria (listed as Trichoptilus ceramodes),
  • South Australia (listed as Trichoptilus ceramodes), and
  • Western Australia (listed as Trichoptilus ceramodes).


    Further reading :

    Edward Meyrick,
    On the classification of the Pterophoridae.,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1886, p. 14.

    Haruka OsakiKazuki and TagawaKazuki Tagawa
    Life on a deadly trap,
    Entomological Society of Japan,
    Volume 23, Part 2 (May 2020).

    Philipp Christoph Zeller,
    Versuch einer naturgemäßen Eintheilung der Schaben,
    Isis von Oken, Jena, Volume 3 (1839), p. 277, No. 38.


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    (updated 4 May 2011, 9 September 2024)