Anthela acuta

Anthela acuta (Walker, 1855)
Common Anthelid
(one synonym : Darala excisa Walker, 1855)
ANTHELINAE, ANTHELIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Peter Marriott & Stella Crossley

Anthela acuta
early instar
(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, Australia)

This Caterpillar is brown and hairy with a brown head capsule and a white adfrontal area. Its head looks as though it has two large brown eyes.

close-up of head
(Photo: courtesy of Jordan Bonner)

Its hairs are in tufts of brown and white, with a longer pair of black tufts on the thorax. There is a double row of alternating pink and white verrucae along the back, except they are all pink on the last three segments. The white verrucae on the thorax are larger than those on the abdomen.

later instar
(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, Australia)

The species has been little studied, and the one name is probably being used to cover a number of similar species. Their caterpillars appear to differ in their food-plants. and the number and placing of the pink spots. The race illustrated here feeds on various Grasses (POACEAE) including

Great Brome (Bromus diandrus) and

Ripgut Brome (Bromus rigidus).

Possibly another race has been found that feeds on

various Wattles ( Acacia, MIMOSACEAE ).

Yet another race in which the caterpillar has all white spots (and no pink ones) has been found feeding on:

Musk Daisy Bush ( Olearia argophylla, ASTERACEAE ), and

Miniature Date Palm ( Phoenix roebelenii, ARECACEAE ).

In Tasmania, caterpillars of what appear to be the same species only accept :

English Oak ( Quercus robur, FAGACEAE ), and

European Beech ( Fagus sylvatica , FAGACEAE ).

The caterpillar appears to be prone to attacks by a red mite.

caterpillar attacked by red parasites
(Photo: courtesy of Janelle Menzies, Glenquarry, New South Wales)

The caterpillar appears to be active on the ground in daylight hours, but at dusk it climbs any available object to spend the night well above ground level.When frightened: it curls into a spiral with the head in the middle.

defensive posture
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar when mature grows to a length of 5 cms. It pupates in a double-walled cocoon in the debris on the ground. The cocoon has a length of about 3 cms.

(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, Australia)

The male moth is basically buff colored. The forewings each have two brown spots and a thin brown line running parallel to the margin. The hindwings have a sparse row of brown dots running along an arc parallel to the margin. However variants frequently occur that have various degrees of dark blotching, as well as having a background colour varying from orange to fawn and even a greenish colour. All varieties of males have a wing-span of about 3 cms.

Anthela acuta
Males
(Specimens: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The females look completely different. They are much bigger, having a wing span of about 5 cms. However they have the same coloration: basically buff with a pattern of darker lines and dots.

Female
(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria)

Specimens have been taken all along the eastern part of Australia, for example in Bundaberg, Sydney, and Melbourne. In Melbourne, adults may be found most months of the year.

Female underside
(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria)

The caterpillar starts life as an irregular row of buff coloured eggs each with a length of about 1 mm. They are laid, often in a row, on the leaf of a food plant.

(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, Australia)

We have counted the number of adults that we encountered in each month of the year in Sydney and in Melbourne. There seems to be two generations per year in Sydney, but only one in Melbourne:

area	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	-	-	7	19	11	1	-	4	10	10	-	1
Melbourne	37	25	17	4	-	4	2	4	20	41	45	42

The species has been found in

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.