Stictoptera cucullioides Guenée, 1852
(one synonym is Steria subobliqua, Walker, 1858)
STICTOPTERINAE ,   NOCTUIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Neil Hewit, Cooper Creek Wilderness, North Queensland)

This caterpillar is a pest on

  • Purple Mangosteen ( Garcinia mangostana )

    and has also been found feeding on :

  • Ironwood ( Mesua species), and
  • Poon Trees ( Calophyllum species),

    all in CLUSIACEAE.

    The caterpillar is brown with pale stripes, and has a little orange mark each side of the eight abdominal segment. The caterpillar feeds on the foliage of its foodplant, feeding nocturnally,and hiding during the daytime. It festoons its food tree with silk threads.

    It pupates in a dense cocoon covered in detritus in the ground debris at the base of its foodplant.

    The adult moth has variable brown forewings, sometimes having a pale streak. The hindwings are white, each having a broad brown margin.

    The species has been found

  • from Sri Lanka to Hawaii,
    including Australia in:
  • Queensland.

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    (created 27 December 2011)