| (previously known as Gadirtha inexacta) SARROTHRIPINAE, NOLIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)
|
| (previously known as Gadirtha inexacta) SARROTHRIPINAE, NOLIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)
This Caterpillar is white or green with long sparse hairs. There are two large black dorsal spots on each segment, as well as several smaller black spots. There are two white or yellow dorsal knobs on the first abdominal segment. The last two abdominal segments are also yellow. The caterpillar feeds on various species in EUPHORBIACEAE, including
The caterpillar pupates in a papery cocoon covered in bits of chewed leaf. The pupa is famous for being able to produce sounds when disturbed, by rubbing projections on the abdominal skin against the hind surface of the cocoon.
The adult moth has patchy brown forewings, each with a variable pattern including two dark marks on the costa. The hindwings are brown, darkening toward the margins. The moth has very hairy legs.
The species occurs in Asia, including
as well as in Australlia in
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 38.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 172.
Francis Walker,
Noctuidae,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 13 (1858), pp. 1102-1103, No. 1.
Yi Wang, Lin Zhu, Xue Gu, Gregory S. Wheeler, Matthew Purcelln & Jianqing Ding,
Pre-release assessment of Gadirtha inexacta,
a proposed biological control agent of Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) in the United States
Biological Control, 2012.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 7 November 2012, updated 22 March 2013, 5 July 2020)