Black Turnip Moth (previously known as Syntheta nigerrima) ACRONICTINAE, NOCTUIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of
Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)
This Caterpillar is initially green with pale stripes. Later the stripes are replaced by speckles with two bright yellow spots on the last abdominal segment. Mature instars often become brown.
It is an agricultural pest, attacking
The forewings of the adult moth vary from dark brown to black. On the paler specimens, a pattern of light and dark brown may be discernible. Many have a pale spot near the middle of each forewing. The hind wings are pale with incomplete wide black borders.
Underneath: the wings are pale grey, darkening towards the margins. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.
The species occurs across Australia, including:
Further reading :
David Carter,
Butterflies and Moths,
Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 258.
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 65, 461, 465, 467.
Pat and Mike Coupar,
Flying Colours,
New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 76.
Achille Guenée,
Noctuélites,
in Boisduval & Guenée:
Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
Volume 9, Part 5, Section 1 (1852), p. 200, No. 318.
Peter Marriott & Marilyn Hewish,
Moths of Victoria - Part 9,
Cutworms and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (C),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2020, pp. 10-11.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 22 October 2011, 6 January 2024)