| Cucumber Moth (formerly known as Eudioptis indica) SPILOMELINAE, CRAMBIDAE, PYRALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Bishop Museum, Hawaii)
|
| Cucumber Moth (formerly known as Eudioptis indica) SPILOMELINAE, CRAMBIDAE, PYRALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Bishop Museum, Hawaii)
This Caterpillar is green with a pale line along each side of its back. The caterpillar is a pest on various members of the plant family CUCURBITACEAE, such as:
although it is also known to attack
The adult moths have transparent wings with broad dark brown borders. The moths have a wing span of about 2.5 cms. There is a tuft of brown hairs on the tip of the abdomen.
The tuft on the end of the abdomen of the female is rather bushier than that of the male. Unfertilised females are quite amusing as they are inclined to keep wiggling this tuft in a figure of eight, presumably to better disperse a pheromone which they emit, in order to attract a male. The chemical nature of the pheromones has been identified.
The species occurs around the world, including:
as well as over much of tropical and sub-tropical Australia, including:
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 9.19, pp. 66, 356.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 36.
William Wilson Saunders,
Insects Injurious to the Cotton Plant,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
Series 2, Volume 1 (1851), p. 163-164.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 1 May 2012, 14 January 2025)