Risoba obstructa Moore, 1881
(one synonym : Risoba grisea Bethune-Baker, 1906)
SARROTHRIPINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Risoba obstructa
drawing by Frederic Moore, The Lepidoptera of Ceylon,

L. Reeve, London, Volume 3 (1886), Plate 144, fig. 2c,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

These Caterpillars are purplish-brown, with pale streaks along the body, and a hump on the tail. They have have been recorded on plants from many families, including:

  • Terminalia ( COMBRETACEAE ),
  • Xylia ( FABACEAE ),
  • Lagerstroemia ( LYTHRACEAE ) and
  • Sterculia ( STERCULIACEAE ).

    Risoba obstructa
    drawing by Frederic Moore, The Lepidoptera of Ceylon,

    L. Reeve, London, Volume 3 (1886), Plate 144, fig. 2c,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The cocoon is dark purple, and is smoothly attached to a stem.

    Risoba obstructa
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The adult moth of this species is greyish-brown with a dark subterminal line and a number of dark marks toward the tip of each forewing. The hindwings are buff coloured with broad dark margins. The males have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. The females have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Risoba obstructa
    male, drawing by Frederic Moore, The Lepidoptera of Ceylon
    ,
    L. Reeve, London, Volume 3 (1886), Plate 144, fig. 2,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species has been found across south-east Asia, including

  • Borneo,
  • India,
  • New Guinea,
  • Sumatra,
  • Thailand,

    and Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Risoba obstructa
    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Risoba grisea
    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Volume XI, 1912, Plate CLXXXVI, figure 5,
    Image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.


    Further reading :

    Frederic Moore,
    Descriptions of new genera and species of Asiatic nocturnal Lepidoptera,
    Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
    1881, pp. 328-329.

    Frederic Moore,
    The Lepidoptera of Ceylon,
    L. Reeve, London, Volume 3 (1886), p. 2, and also Plate 144, fig. 2.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 172, listed as Risoba grisea.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 29 October 2011, 1 May 2016, 15 August 2019)