MOTHS found in Broome

 Feature article: Caterpillars to moths'  

Australian mothology is very undeveloped,
Less than half the endemic moths have been described and named.
Western Australian moths hardly studied at all. There are 24,000 moths species in Australia.

Donuca orbigera

'Donuca orbigera' http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/orbigera.html "No one could design such perfection (and I'm in no way religious)" comment Driscoll Fireland. (photo Emma Loaring)

Coenotes eremophilae

The caterpillars have a red or white stripe along each side, a row of red, orange or yellow spiracles along each side, and sometimes a red or yellow stripe along the back. On the tail, they have an entirely black curved horn. The head and prothorax have black and white bands. (photo: Bianca Dunlop)

Many have noticed a 'zillion' of these caterpillars in and around Broome recently.

"Some years are worse than others, its an annual event for these caterpillars. They prefer the Coolaman Tree, Helicopter Tree, Poinciana trees and many others, totally stripping them before moving to other trees that might take their fancy. You might have to grin and put up with them until they're finished the cycle. They will eventually turn into moths". (Gary Smith)

Coenotes eremophilae caterpillars turn into this moth.

Eudocima materna

 

Eudocima materna (Linnaeus, 1767)
(one synonym : Ophideres apta)
CATOCALINAE, NOCTUIDAE

This moth is an agricultural pest, causing damage to Citrus and other fruit by piercing the fruit with its strong proboscis in order to suck the juice.

The Caterpillars feed on plants in the Moonseed family ( MENISPERMACEAE ), for example :

 

  • Eats the Snake Vine ( Tinospora smilacina ),
  • It is also called a fruit sucking moth

 

Moth in Broome - May 2006 Photo: bk
 

 

Eudocima materna (photo Karen Nilson - near Pardoo)
Several species of Eudocima have caterpillars
with 2 pairs of eyespots like this, see http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/calp/cocalus.html http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/calp/fullonia.html http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/calp/salaminia.html

and possibly E, aurantia, E. iridescens, E. jordani, and E. materna,
the caterpillars of which I do not know.
Rear it in captivity to get the adult moth
to identify the species?

Hawk Moths

Coffee bee hawk moth or clear wing Hawke moth (Cephonodes australis). https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephonodes_hylas

 

Hawk moths hovering in front of flowers are often mistaken for hummingbirds

 

Convolvulus hawk-moth (Agrius convolvuli) wingspan is 80–105 mm

Pink on the abdomen is an identifying feature.

"does not damage fruit".

Hippotion celerio ( Linnaeus , 1758)
Gabi Moth, Vine Hawk Moth
(one synonym : Elpenor phoenix Oken, 1815)
MACROGLOSSINAE ,   SPHINGIDAE ,   BOMBYCOIDEA
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/sphi/celerio.html

Hippotion celerio

 

 

Photo courtesy Vee Major

Trigonodes hyppasia,
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/hyppasia.html

 

Hawkmoth (agrius convolvuli): http://linus.socs.uts.edu.au/~don/larvae/sphi/convol.html

(Hawkmoths pollinate the flowers of the Boab tree)

A moth beautifully camouflaged on sandstone at Gantheaume Point (ID 'Privet Hawk moth' Psilogramma menephron - photo bk)

The common name is the large 'brown hawkmoth'

 

Daphnis moorei is a moth of the family Sphingidae first described by William John Macleay in 1866. It is known from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the northern half of Australia.

Daphnis moorei, a dark specimen. Looks like it could be about to
pupate. (Photo Emma Winter)
Common name: Hawk Moth

 

 

HAWK MOTH: These are probably of a Psilogramma species in Sphingidae, see
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/sphi/sphi-cats.html
The caterpillars in this genus all look rather similar. I have just ordered a copy of the new book by Max Moulds et al,
which adverts suggest has a key to distinguish the caterpillars,
so when it arrives, I may be able to offer a more specific identification.
Meanwhile, rearing it in captivity to get an adult moth
would be a good idea.

HAWK MOTH Sphingidae: and the species 'acosmeryx anceus'.

(photo Sarah Cordiner)

 

Fat bodied, colourful and at 75 mm in length, this is one of the Northern Territory's larger caterpillars.

The eye spots and specifically the "tail" identify it as a hawk moth, in this instance Gnathothlibus australiensis. Their favoured larval food plant seems to be the annual Native Grape (Ampelocissus acetosa) which is widespread throughout savanna woodlands at this time of year. These caterpillars are so large they don't seem to have any difficulty chewing through the stems of leaves as can be seen in this image.

 

Photo: Alice Ewing (near Broome)
Photo in Broome: Kimberley Wild Gubinge

This Caterpillar prefers to eat Terminalia ferdinandiana (Gubinge) http://wkfl.asn.au/nature/gubinge.html and Gyrocarpus  Americanus

(Helicopter, Coolamon or stinkwood tree) http://wkfl.asn.au/nature/gyro.html

FOR MORE INFO AND TURNING INTO A MOTH: http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/noto/dryinopa.html

This is 'Imber tropicus'. Feeds on Brachychiton but looks like this one is parasitised. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imber_tropicus . Feeding on Northern Kurrajong http://wkfl.asn.au/nature/bra.html

http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/sphi/tropicus.html

The top with the horn is the butt end.

Distribution The single included species is endemic to Australia. It occurs widely across the monsoonal north of the continent from Broome in Western Australia to north-eastern Queensland.

Etymology: From the Latin ‘IMBER' meaning rain, a storm, or pelting rain , and referring to the appearance of adults and larvae following the first big rains of the wet season; masculine.


Photo - Nishi Lee
 

 

Agrius convolvuli (photo Amelia Munn) Hawk Moth

The caterpillars grow to a length of about 9 cms. The caterpillar may walk up to 300 metres from the food plant to pupate. It pupates in a cell that it excavates under the soil, at a depth up to 15 cms. The pupa has a length of about 5 cms. It has a long looped compartment for the developing haustellum .

(Photo: courtesy of Tom and David Sleep, Queensland)

http:// lepidoptera.butterflyhouse. com.au/sphi/ convolvuli.html

These caterpillars have a number of enemies . (Photo: courtesy of Diana Davey, Woolgoolga, New South Wales)



Ophiusa coronata

Fruit piercing moth (Ophiusa coronata) Fitzroy Crossing (photo Natalie Davey)

The caterpillars of this species are brown loopers, with a black head that has two white stripes each side. The caterpillars also have two black and white knobs on the tail. The caterpillars feed on the trees and vines

Processionary Caterpillars

 ''Processionary'' Caterpillars" (Ochrogaster lunifer) - turn into moths

These caterpillars feed in gregarious groups on leaves until the food supply is exhausted then they move in procession in search of the next supply of food.

Processionary' Caterpillars (Photo bk May 2006) - turn into moths.

A fully grown caterpillar can have thousands of hairs, which are barbed and contain an irritating substance called thaumetopoein. Contact with the hairs can cause itching skin rashes and, less commonly, sore throats, breathing difficulties and eye irritations. In rare cases it can cause an allergic reaction.

These caterpillars feed in gregarious groups on leaves until the food supply is exhausted then they move in procession in search of the next supply of food. (photo bk)

'Looping caterpillars' stripping a branch of it's leaves.

These are one of the Geometrid moth caterpillars commonly known as loopers because of the way they walk. There are around 2,300 species in Australia.

The length of pupa varied from 14 to 20 mm depending upon the nutrition during the larval stage. The pupal period varied from 9 to 12 days with an average of 10.2 days. On the average, the poinciana looper completed its life cycle in 40 days.

(photo bk)

 

Processionary' Caterpillars (Photo bk May 2006)

These Caterpillars are grey and hairy with a brown head. They are famous for walking in processions. Each Caterpillar when it walks, leaves a thread of silk from its sphindet near its mouth.

Feeding nocturnally, if they nest at the foot of their food tree, they leave such silk trails each evening as they climb the tree, and each dawn as they descend again to their nest.

http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/noto/lunifer.html

Ipanica cornigera

Ipanica cornigera

Photo Natalie Davey

http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/agar/cornigera.html Did that moth come from that caterpillar?
Do you have photos of other instars?
On what plant was it feeding?
What was its length at maturity?
How long was the moth?
What were the hindwings like?

Box-Owlet Moth (Grammodes oculicola)

Small-eyed Box-Owlet Moth (Grammodes oculicola) http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/oculicola.html http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/cato-wings.html (photo courtesy Taryn Ryan) Information supplied by Don Herbison-Evans from the Butterfly house at Coffs Harbour

Also, another good idea is to keep the caterpillar with enough of it's favourite food and see what it hatches out to be. Put the caterpillar and a few fresh leaves in a wide mouth jar or plastic shoebox. Cover the jar mouth with netting or a piece of nylon. Every day change the leaves and provide dry paper towels to help prevent mold.

Utetheisa lotrix

Utetheisa lotrix, the salt-and-pepper moth or crotalaria moth, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. It is found in most of the Old World tropics. The wingspan is about 30 mm. The larvae feed on Crotalaria species. Crotalaria is a common plant in Broome. (photo Angela Powell) http://wkfl.asn.au/nature/cro_bird_flower.htm

Dichocrocis clytusalis

(Dichocrocis clytusalis Kurrajong Bag Moth Photo bk)

You could see where they had chomped on the leaf to suck out the chlorophyll leaving the leaf pale and dry. That is why in fact they are a luminous green colour. Turns out these caterpillars pull the margins of the leaves over themselves for protection and stitch them together with silk which they produce.
http:// lepidoptera.butterflyhouse. com.au/spil/ clytusalis.html

They only eat the soft green parts of a leaf, leaving a skeleton of veins. They are green with sparse hairs and some brown markings and can reach a length of about 20 mm when full-grown. They live communally in a bag formed by rolling up leaves of their food plant and joining them with silk. They hide in the bag by day, emerging to feed at night.

Amazing clip showing a leaf tier caterpillar rolling up and sewing a leaf with silk.
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=-qTDmfoPHG

Tussock Moth

Reply from Don at Butterfly house: "The 2 red dorsal glands on the penultimate segments suggest it is in Lymantriidae. Being a young instar, it may well develop tussocks. This is speculation. As usual, to identify a caterpillar, it has to be reared to the adult moth".

May possibly be a Tussock Moth caterpillar. Tussock Moth caterpillars, can readily be identified by their hairy "horns". Irritating hairs so don't touch.

The Lymantriinae are a subfamily of moths of the family Erebidae. Many of its component species are referred to as "tussock moths" of one sort or another. (photo Erick Kennedy)

Emperor Moth

Photos: Jacinta Monck

Lappet Moth

Anthelid Lappet Moth - Family Anthelidae (photo Natalie Davey Fitzroy Crossing) https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/125018-Anthelidae

Bagworm Moth or (case moth)

 

(Photo Gina Albert)
 

Dysgonia senex

Dysgonia senex (Photo Geoff Byrne Broome)