Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius, 1775)
Beet Webworm
 (one synonym : Hymenia exodias Meyrick, 1904)
SPILOMELINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Spoladea recurvalis
(Photo: courtesy of the Macleay Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney)

This Caterpillar is brownish-green, with sparse white hairs, and a brown head with black speckles. It lives and pupates communally in a silken web of leaves and frass on its foodplant. It is a pest on:

  • Silver Beet ( Swiss Chard: Beta vulgaris cicla, CHENOPODIACEAE ),
  • Beetroot ( Beta vulgaris conditiva, CHENOPODIACEAE ),
  • Maize ( Zea mays, POACEAE ) and
  • Soybean ( Glycine max, FABACEAE ),

    and also has been found feeding on:

  • Sea Purslane ( Sesuvium portulacastrum, AIZOACEAE ),
  • Love-Lies-Bleeding ( Amaranthus caudatus, AMARANTHACEAE ), and
  • Largeseed Goosefoot ( Chenopodium macrospermum, CHENOPODIACEAE ).

    Spoladea recurvalis
    (Photo: courtesy of Trevor Jinks, North Burnett, Queensland)

    The adult is black with two incomplete white stripes on each forewing, and a complete one across each hindwing. It has a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    Spoladea recurvalis
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species is found all over the world, including :

  • Brazil,
  • Hawaii,
  • Japan,
  • Philippines,
  • Singapore,
  • South Africa,
  • United Kingdom,
  • United States of America,

    and over much of Australia, including:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • Norfolk Island,
  • New South Wales,
  • Lord Howe Island
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Spoladea recurvalis
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 33.19, pp. 66, 356.

    Johan Christian Fabricius,
    Historiae Natvralis Favtoribvs,
    Systema Entomologiae,
    1775, p. 644, No. 129.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 88.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 31.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 49.

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    (updated 15 September 2011, 23 December 2025)