Hygraula nitens (Butler, 1880)
 (formerly known as Paraponyx nitens)
ACENTROPINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo : courtesy of Stephen Moore, Manaaki Whenua, Bioeconomy Research Institue)

These Caterpillars are off-white, and live underwater. They have filamentous gills all over the body. They have been found feeding on a variety of pondweeds, including :-

  • Waterthyme (Hydrilla verticillata),
  • Oxygen Weed (Lagarosiphon major),
  • Canadian Waterweed (Elodea canadensis), and
  • Brazilian Waterweed (Egeria densa)

    in HYDROCHARITACEAE.


    (Photo: courtesy of Dominic Funnell, Mission River, Queensland)

    The adult moths have brown forewings, each with several white zigzag lines and spots. The hindwings are pale brown with diffuse white spots. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.


    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/CNC/CBG Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found in

  • New Zealand,

    and all over Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Arthur G. Butler,
    On a collection of Lepidoptera Heterocera from Marlborough Province, New Zealand,
    Cistula Entomologica,
    Volume 2 (1880), p. 556, No. 67.

    Petra Redekop, Elisabeth Gross, Andréďna Nuttens, Deborah Hofstra, John Clayton, and Andreas Hussner,
    Hygraula nitens, the only native aquatic caterpillar in New Zealand, prefers feeding on an alien submerged plant,
    Hydrobiologia,
    Vol. 812, part 1 (2018), pp.13 - 25..

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    (written 2 August 2023, updated 27 July 2026)