Donuca castalia (Fabricius, 1775)
 (one synonym : Calliodes saturatior Walker, 1858)
CATOCALINI,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Donuca castalia
Male
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species have grey or brown patterned wings, with an eyespot shaped like the Greek letter theta on each forewing.

Donuca castalia
Female
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The moths show some variation in shading, some having white areas rather than brown. The abdomen is brown with scarlet sides.

Donuca castalia
(Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

The underside is pale brown, with broad dark margins, and a dark brown spot near the middle of each wing.

Donuca castalia
underside
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The species is found in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Donuca castalia
    (Photo courtesy of Valeria Mastakova, Brisbane, Queensland)

    The eggs are dark brown and spherical with white-edged ridges. The eggs are laid in a tidy array.

    Donuca castalia
    male, drawing by George Francis Hampson, listed as Donuca castalia    ,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Phalænæ in the British Museum,
    Noctuidæ, Volume XII (1913), Plate CCX, figure 10,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    Further reading :

    Johan Christian Fabricius,
    Historiae Natvralis Favtoribvs,
    Systema Entomologiae,
    1775, p. 559, No. 13.

    Peter Hendry,
    At the Light Trap: Records of daytime flying moths (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Agaristinae) and the genus Donuca (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: catocalini),
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 55 (December 2009), pp. 24-27,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 131.

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    (updated 13 April 2013, 29 March 2016, 24 February 2020, 8 September 2021)