Xanthodes amata Walker, 1865
 (one synonym : Xanthodes adunca Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)
CHLOEPHORINAE,   NOLIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA,  
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Xanthodes amata
(Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species are green, with a broken pale line along the back interrupted by black splodges each containing two yellow spots, and a pale line along each side interrupted by red spots on each segment.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Merauk Hibiscus ( Hibiscus meraukensis, MALVACEAE ).

    Xanthodes amata
    concealed cocoon
    (Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The caterpillars pupate in cocoon in a curled dead leaf.

    Xanthodes amata
    (Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The adult moths have pale yellow forewings, each with two brown spots on the costa. The forewings each have an indentation in the margin near the tornus.

    Xanthodes amata
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The hindwings and undersides are white shading to yellow at the margins. The moths have a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Xanthodes amata
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The species is found across Australia, including :

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

    Xanthodes amata
    male, drawing by Felder & Rogenhofer, listed as Xanthodes adunca    ,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CVIII, figure 39,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    Further reading :

    Rudolf Felder & Alois F. Rogenhofer,
    Zoologischer Theil: Lepidoptera,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), p. 20, and also Plate 108, fig. 39.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 33, Supplement part 3(1865), pp. 778-779.

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    (created 25 April 2012, updated 8 August 2012, 5 June 2020, 5 July 2021)