Tetracona amathealis (Walker, 1859)
 (one synonym : Pyralis ornatalis Walker, 1866)
SPILOMELINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Bart Hacobian & Stella Crossley

Tetracona amathealis
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, listed as Agrotera amathealis
Kuranda, Queensland)

These Caterpillars are sometimes a pest on:

  • Forest Red Gum ( Eucalyptus tereticornis, MYRTACEAE ).

    The adult moth has forewings that have a golden basal half, and a grey marginal half split by a jagged orange medial band. The hindwings are grey with a gold area along the hind margin. The moth has a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    Tetracona amathealis
    listed as Agrotera amathealis
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species has been found in

  • New Guinea,

    and also in Australia in:

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

    Tetracona amathealis
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Peter Hendry,
    A Night at Ray's,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 57 (June 2010), pp. 30-32.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 32.

    Francis Walker,
    Pyralides,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 17 (1859), pp. 348-349, No. 3.

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    (updated 26 January 2013, 15 July 2024)