Acyphas semiochrea

Acyphas semiochrea (Herrich-Schaffer, [1855])
Omnivorous Tussock Moth
(one synonym : Euproctis leucomelas Walker, 1855)
LYMANTRIINAE, EREBIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Acyphas semiochrea
(Photo: courtesy of Ian Common, from Moths of Australia)

This Caterpillar is basically brown and hairy, with coloured markings, including yellow spots on the thorax, and a dorsal row of pale patches along the abdomen.

(Photo: courtesy of Peter Koch, Tolderol Game Reserve, South Australia)

The head has a pair of black hair pencils, like a pair of hairy horns. The caterpillar also has a hairy tail, and a red dorsal gland on each of the two penultimate abdominal segments.

(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar has a broken yellow line along each side, and the underside is green.

(Photo: courtesy of Alison Milton, The Pinnacle, Australian Capital Territory) The caterpillar is known to feed on:

Bush Peas ( Pultenaea, FABACEAE ),

Wattles ( Acacia, MIMOSACEAE ),

Boobialla ( Myoporum, MYOPORACEAE ),

Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus, MYRTACEAE ),

Sour Bush ( Choretrum, SANTALACEAE ),

Hop Bush ( Dodonaea, SAPINDACEAE ), and

Salt Cedar ( Tamarix, TAMARICACEAE ).

The caterpillar is a pest in South Australia on:

Monterey Pine ( Pinus radiata, PINACEAE ), and

Lignum ( Muehlenbeckia florulenta, POLYGONACEAE ).

On the Lignum: the caterpillar eats the outer bark, stripping the stems.

cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Jesse & Peter Koch, Tolderol Game Reserve, South Australia)

The caterpillar pupates in a doubly-tapered off-white cocoon on a twig.

Female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 2)

The adult female moth is white, and has an orange tuft on the tail.

Male with yellowish tuft on thorax, and dark wing margins
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 2)

The male moths are white, sometimes with a dark mark at the tornus of each forewing, sometimes with a grey mark at the wingtip of each forewing, and sometimes with a broad dark band along the margin of each forewing. Sometimes the hairs around the thorax are yellowish. Sometimes the black skin of the thorax and/or abdomen shows through between the white hairs. The antennae appear to be darker than those of the similar Acyphas chionitis. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms. It is possible that the one name is being used for more than one species.

Male with black thorax
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 2)

The eggs are laid in a cluster almost anywhere. They are covered by the female with brown hairs from her body.

moth on it's cocoon
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Koch, Tolderol Game Reserve, South Australia)

The species occurs across most of Australia, including:

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 43.13, pp. 70, 429-430.

Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer,
Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter aussereuropäischer Schmetterlinge,
Verzeichniss der in diesem Werke gelieferten Arten nach Reihenfolge ihrer Veroffentlichung,
Series I, Volume 1, Part 7 (1855), pp. 18, 70, 82, and also Plate 68, fig. 390.

Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 151.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Part 2,
Tiger Moths and their Allies - Noctuoidea (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 16-19.

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(updated 11 April 2011, 22 May 2018, 15 November 2019, 4 October 2020, 30 December 2021)