The camouflage of the caterpillar is amazing. The caterpillar is inclined to lie along the spine of the leaf. It looks like part of the leaf until examined closely. It also doesn't chew a leaf like most caterpillars do. It seems to graze the green away, and leave a fine netting behind. The Caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 cms. They pupate in their rolled leaf shelter.

(Photo: copyright Lyn Finn, Macquarie Hills, New South Wales)

The adult moths emerge after only a week or so in summer in Sydney. The moths of this species have a characteristic posture, like a Concorde aircaft about to take off.

(Photo: copyright Lyn Finn, Macquarie Hills, New South Wales)

They have dark brown wings with a faint darker diagonal line from the wingtip to halfway along the rear edge of each forewing. They have a wingspan of about 2 cms.

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

The labial palps are elongated and held out in front of the head like a long nose.

magnified view of the underside of the labial palps
(Photo: copyright Lyn Finn, Macquarie Hills, New South Wales)

The species occurs in Australia in

Further reading :

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 34, Supplement part 4 (1866), p. 1143.

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(updated 15 December 2009, 1 September 2017, 8 November 2020, 7 April 2022)