| (previously known as Parasa lozogramma) LIMACODIDAE, ZYGAENOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Nick Monaghan, Worba Park, Queensland)
|
| (previously known as Parasa lozogramma) LIMACODIDAE, ZYGAENOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Nick Monaghan, Worba Park, Queensland)
These Caterpillars sting. The caterpillars of this species are green with a variable red and white dorsal stripe. There are pairs of projections with stinging hairs at the head and at the tail, and a series of similar projections along each side. The stinging hairs on the largest projections at the head and tail are black. The dorsal stripe is more coloured at the rear.
The caterpillars have been found feeding on the leaves of a variety of plants including
The caterpillar pupates in a hard round cocoon, glued to some adjacent surface, surrounded by a sparse brown silk net.
The adult moths are brown, with plain hindwings, and with a dark-edged pale diagonal line and submarginal arc on each forewing. The wingspan is about 3 cms.
The moths show an unusual 'calling' behaviour : putting their head down, and lifting the abdomen upward, presumably to disperse pheromones to attract the opposite sex.
The species occurs in
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 28.19, p. 301.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 103.
A. Jefferis Turner,
New Australian Lepidoptera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 26 No.1 (1902), p. 193.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 28 May 2013, 24 October 2019, 18 May 2020, 6 June 2021, 20 February 2022)