| (previously known as Meganoton rufescens severina) SPHINGINAE, SPHINGIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland,
listed as Meganoton rufescens)
|
| (previously known as Meganoton rufescens severina) SPHINGINAE, SPHINGIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland,
listed as Meganoton rufescens)
The Caterpillars of this species are green with some yellow markingss on the thorax, and white diagonal stripes across the sides of the abdominal segments. The caterpillar has a bluish tail horn with yellow tubercles. There are also yellow tubercles on the prothorax,but not on the claspers.
The caterpillars feed on various plants, including :
The caterpillars grow to a length of about 12 cms. The caterpillar excavates a cell in the soil for pupation at a depth of about 9 cms. The pupa is brown with a coiled extension housing the develping haustellum. The pupa has a length of about 6.5 cms.
The adult moths have fawn forewings each with a complex pattern, including several incomplete dark lines parallel to the hind margin, and a small white dot edged in black near the centre. The moths have a wingspan of about 15 cms.
The species is found in Australia in
Further reading :
William Henry Miskin,
A revision of the Australian Sphingidae,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 8, Part 1 (1891), p. 25, No. 42.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 206, listed as Meganoton rufescens.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 12 February 2010, 15 January 2017)