Agape chloropyga (Walker, 1854)
 (one synonym: Hypsa analis Walker, 1856)
AGANAINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Agape chloropyga larva
(Photo: courtesy of Sue Downing, Julatten, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are pale yellow or brown with sparse hairs, which on the thorax point forward, and with some dark brown and a few red spots on the back behind the head, and some more dark brown spots on the back near the tail.

Agape chloropyga larva
(Photo: courtesy of Tony Bailey, Runaway Bay, Queensland)

The caterpillars characteristically rest with the head and thorax curved around to the side (right or left, it seems to be ambidextrous), and with the last two segments raised in the air.

Agape chloropyga larva
(Photo: courtesy of Ian Common, from Moths of Australia)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on the leaves of tropical Figs ( MORACEAE ) such as :

  • Morton Bay Fig ( Ficus macrophylla ), and
  • Malayan Banyan ( Ficus microcarpa ).

    Agape chloropyga larva
    (Photo: courtesy of Tony Bailey, Mt Tamborine, Queensland)

    The caterpillar pupates in the ground debris in a white silk cocoon decorated with frass and detritus.

    Agape chloropyga
    (Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Bundaberg, Queensland)

    The adults moths are yellow with five orange spots on each forewing. The bodies are yellow with black bands between segments, and a dark blue last abdominal segment. The moths have a wingspan of about 6 cms.

    Agape chloropyga
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species is found over south-east Asia, including :

  • Borneo, and
  • Malaysia,

    and in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Agape chloropyga
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pls. 31.10,31.11, p. 442.

    Graham J. McDonald,
    Moths - The Weird and the Wonderful,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 68 (March 2013), pp. 13-16.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 12.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 6.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 2 (1854), p. 455, No. 16.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 184.

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    (updated 15 May 2010, 6 August 2024)