Euproctis paradoxa (Butler, 1886)
(formerly known as Chionophasma paradoxa)
LYMANTRIINAE,   EREBIDAE,   NOCTUOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

These Caterpillars are very colourful. They are green along the sides, with a broad purple stripe along the back interrupted by an orange bar on each segment, and a thin white line along the middle of the back The thorax has two pairs of black-edged white spots. The penultimate two abdominal segments each have a dark red gland. The head has a pair of long dark hair tufts, and there is single similar tuft on the tail.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Black Wattle ( Acacia leiocalyx, MIMOSACEAE ).

    The adult moth is white except for a yellow brush on its tail. Also the moth has a few dark yellow scales on the hind margins of the forewings, although these coloured scales fall off very easily. The moth has a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    The species has been found in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


    Further reading :

    Arthur G. Butler,
    Descriptions of 21 new genera and 103 new species of Lepidoptera-Heterocera from the Australian region,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1886, Part 4, p. 385, and also Plate 9, fig. 2.

    Peter Hendry,
    Host plant for Euproctis paradoxa (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae) and notes on the Genus Euproctis,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 63 (December 2011), pp. 20-21.


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    (updated 7 October 2002, 13 August 2024)