Cyclodes spectans Snellen, 1866
Owl Moth
 (one synonym : Cyclodes pulchra Bethune-Baker, 1906)
EREBINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


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

The Caterpillars of this species are pale brown with a ring of scoli on each segment, each with either a short black bristle or a long white hair. The caterpillars also have a dark dorsal line, and broken dark lines on the sides of each segment. The head is brown. The caterpillars have been found feeding the leaves of

  • Alexandra Palms ( Archontophoenix alexandrae, ARECACEAE ).

    The caterpillars grow to a length of about 7 cms.


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

    The pupa is formed in a loose cocoon between curled dead leaves. The pupa has a length of about 4 cms.


    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The adult moth has greyish-brown forewings with feathery patterns, each wing with an eye spot near the base. The hindwings are white with black bands near the margin, and a brown band near the base. The wingspan is about 6 cms.


    drawing by Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen    ,
    Beschrijving van Cyclodes spectans, Snell., eene nieuwe soort der Noctuinen van Amboina,
    Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, Volume 29 (1886), Plate 8, fig. 2,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The species occurs in

  • Ambon Island,
  • New Guinea,

    also in Australia in

  • Queensland.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 451.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 22.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 130.

    Pieter Cornelius Tobias Snellen,
    Beschrijving van Cyclodes spectas, Snell., eene nieuwe soort der Noctuinen van Amboina.,
    Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
    Volume 29 (1886), pp. 228-232, and also Plate 8, figs. 2, 2a.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 197.

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    (updated 22 January 2010, 3 August 2014, 24 September 2015, 7 February 2019, 13 July 2020, 9 September 2022)