Donuca orbigera (Guenée, 1852)
 (previously known as Calliodes orbigera)
CATOCALINI,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Donuca orbigera
(Photo: courtesy of Jeff Keyes, Sportsman Creek Wildlife Refuge, New South Wales)

This adult moth has a spectacular pattern, with bold white lines and two large eyespots. Note how the diagonal lines on the wings link up when the moth is at rest to give it a false axis.

The moth has a penchant for facing downward when clinging to a vertical surface. In this orientation: one might imagine that it is a huge face with a slightly open mouth and a striped nose. The moth has a wingspan of about 5 cms.

Donuca orbigera
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The species is found over the northern half of Australia, in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

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

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 21.14, p. 454.

    Achille Guenée,
    Noctuélites III,
    in Boisduval & Guenée:
    Histoire Naturelle des Insectes; Spécies Général des Lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 7 (1852), p. 193, No. 1589.

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

    Wesley Jenkinson,
    Moths photographed at Obum Obum,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 73 (June 2014), p. 31.

    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,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 132.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 192.

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    (updated 22 March 2013, 7 August 2024)