Lantanophaga pusillidactylus

Lantanophaga pusillidactylus (Walker, 1864)
(one synonym : Platyptilia lantana Busck, 1914)
PTEROPHORINAE, PTEROPHORIDAE, PTEROPHORIOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Debbie Matthews & Stella Crossley

These Caterpillars are buff with dark brown heads. They were introduced from Mexico into Hawaii in 1902, and later into Australia to control

Lantana ( Lantana camara, VERBENACEAE ).

It has also been reported to feed on many other plants in VERBENACEAE including:

Indian Lantana ( Lantana indica ),

Buttonsage ( Lantana involucrata ),

Galapagos Lantana ( Lantana peduncularis ),

Santa Maria ( Lippia alba ), and

Fogfruit ( Phyla lanceolata ),

as well as plants in other families such as:

Sacatropo ( Caperonia palustris, EUPHORBIACEAE ),

Spearmint ( Mentha spicata, LAMIACEAE ), and

Bladderwort ( Utricularia species, LENTIBULARIACEAE ).

Pupa, showing scale of 0.5 mm.

The adult moth has two lobes to each forewing, and three lobes to each hindwing. The wings are brown with dark markings. The moth has a wingspan of about 1 cm.

(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The species originated in the

Caribbean, and

south-west of USA.
It now occurs wherever Lantana grows, in the tropics and subtropics all around the world, including

Sicily, and

and now occurs in Australia in

Northern Territory,

Queensland, and

New South Wales,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Entomology)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 72.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 30 (1864), p. 933, No. 13.

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(updated 3 May 2011)