Australia has over 10,000 species of caterpillars, which have been divided into about 100 families on the basis of similar DNA.

Each family is divided into a number of genera which contain a number of related species.

Although the caterpillars of many moth species are rather similar to each other, some caterpillars are easy to identify because they have some unique characteristic, so can be identified to the individual species, some can only be identified to the family, or a group of families, and some beasties look like caterpillars but are not true caterpillars at all.

Most insect taxonomy has been performed using the adult forms, so usually the only sure way to determine the species of a caterpillar is to rear it through to the adult butterfly or moth, and then identify that.

big: 6 cms or more long, hairy	small: shorter than 6 cms, hairy	big: 6 cms or more long, smooth or warty with sparse or short hairs	small: shorter than 6 cms, smooth or warty, with sparse or short hairs
lives in a borehole in a stem, twig, branch, trunk, or the ground	lives in a fixed shelter made of silk or leaves or detritus	lives in a case carries the case around	might be a caterpillar, but isn't

If you cannot get enough information from the these webpages, please feel free to contact us, and tell us:-

country (not obvious from email !), state or province or area, length and diameter, colour and description, circumstances in which it was found, possible foodplants, and if at all possible: 3 photographs of it :     1. from the side,     2. from on top, and     3. of the head in close up.

Please note that we don't know much about non-Australian species.

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Australian Caterpillar foodplant families

Australian butterflies

Australian Lepidoptera

Australian moths

Caterpillar frequently asked questions

(updated 3 June 2014, 16 July 2019)

6 July 2020 :-