Maurilia iconica

Maurilia iconica (Walker, 1857)
(one synonym : Anomis instabilis Butler, 1889)
CAREINI, CHLOEPHORINAE, NOLIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA,

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Maurilia iconica
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species have a bulging greenish-grey thorax, and a pair of short horns on the tail.

early instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The early instars are brown with a white-edged broad pale yellow dorsal stripe containing a white-edged brown stripe. Similar white-edged brown stripes run along each side, below which a white line runs along each side just above the legs. The caterpillars have some dark smudges about half way around abdominal segments five and six. There is a white dorsal patch between the tail horns and the claspers.

late instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

Later instars become brown with broken white lines. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 3 cms.

late instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The thorax develops black spots and some black-outlined white spots. The tail horns become red. The head becomes yellow with black markings, with a white collar with black markings.

close-up of head, late instar
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on plants in COMBRETACEAE including :

Dhaora (Anogeissus latifolia),

Indian Almond (Terminalia catappa),

Mueller's Damson (Terminalia muelleri),

as well as plants from other families including :

Resak (Vatica, DIPTEROCARPACEAE),

Sugar Cane (Saccharum, POACEAE), and

Teak (Tectona grandis, LAMIACEAE).

cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The caterpillars pupate in a white cocoon spun in a curled leaf.

pupa inside cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

The pupa is pale brown with darker ends, and has a length of about 1.6 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The adult moths are dimorphic. The females are plain brown with faint dark zigzag lines across the forewings.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The males have an additional large irregular reddish area outlined in dark brown on the costa of each forewing. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

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

The species is found from south-east Asia to the south Pacific, including

and also in Australia in:

Queensland.

drawing by Arthur G. Butler, listed as Anomis instabilis,
Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 7 (1889), Gonopteridae, Plate CCCXXXI, fig 3,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Gerstein Library, University of Toronto.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)

Further reading :

Arthur G. Butler,
Gonopteridae,
Illustrations of Typical Specimens of Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 7 (1889), p. 72, and also Plate 131, fig. 3.

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 48.5, p. 458.

Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 169.

Francis Walker,
Noctuidae,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 13 (1858), pp. 992-993, No. 14.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 187.

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(updated 13 November 2010, 14 March 2017, 27 April 2020)