| Tiny Tussock Moth (previously known as : Orgyia hemicalla) LYMANTRIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
David Akers,
Won Wron, Victoria)
|
| Tiny Tussock Moth (previously known as : Orgyia hemicalla) LYMANTRIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
David Akers,
Won Wron, Victoria)
The Caterpillar of this species are grey and hairy, with a double row of white spots along the back, a pair of yellow spots behind the thorax, four rows of round brown warts along the back, a row of round red warts along each side, and a red gland on the back of each of the penultimate two segments. The head is black, and the hairs around the head project diagonally forward, like cats' whiskers, from a pair of round black verrucae.
The caterpillar is has been found feeding on
pupa
(Photos: courtesy of
David Akers,
Won Wron, Victoria)
The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It pupates in a dense brown silk cocoon on the foodplant.
The adult male moth is dark brown except for a broad orange margin on each hindwing. It has a wingspan of about 2 cms.
The female is brown and hairy, with a length of about 1 cm. She is cylindrical and has vestigial wings, and cannot fly.
The moths seem to prefer the vicinity of a creek. The species has been found in
Further reading :
Oswald B. Lower,
Descriptions of New Australian Lepidoptera with Synonymic Notes. No. XXIII,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 29 (1905), p. 176.
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Part 2,
Tiger Moths and their Allies - Noctuoidea (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 16-19.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 11 April 2011, 26 March 2023)