cocoon cut open to show empty pupal skin after the moth had emerged, and also the last larval instar skin
(Photo: courtesy of Vanessa, West Hobart, Tasmania)

It pupated in a dense off-white cocoon.

(Photo: courtesy of Vanessa, West Hobart, Tasmania)

The adult moth of this species is basically reddish brown, with a submarginal arc of dots, and two white-centred dark spots on each wing. The wingspan is about 4 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 1)

The moths are difficult to distinguish from those of Anthela ferruginosa without examination of the genitalia, but depending on the sex, differ slightly in having a more oblong white spots on the forewing, a more pointed wingtip to the forewing, and a more rounded wingtip to the hindwing.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria - Part 1)

The eggs are white, and laid in an irregular array of about 100.

The species has been found in

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Vanessa, West Hobart, Tasmania)

Further reading:

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 1,
Silk Moths and Allies - BOMBYCOIDEA,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2008, pp. 18-19.

Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 32, Supplement part 2 (1865), p. 372.

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(updated 24 February 2009, 18 November 2025)