| Elusive White Spotted Snout Moth (previously known as Rhathymodes lechriodes) LASIOCAMPINAE, LASIOCAMPIDAE, BOMBYCOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Mike & Pat Coupar and Stella Crossley |
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of
TimL,
Australian National Botanical Gardens, Australian Capital Territory)
Early instars of this caterpillar are hairy, and are pale grey or brown, with red markings. When disturbed : the caterpillars display red markings between the segments of the thorax.
In later instars : the red markings become shades of grey
in a subtle pattern that looks like the wrinkled bark of a branch.
When disturbed : late instars display black markings on the thorax.
The caterpillar feeds on:
The caterpillar grows to a length of up to 6 cms.
It pupates in a cocoon on the foodplant.
The male and female adult moths are different. The females are stout and brown, with a wingspan of about 5 cms.
The males are smaller with a white spot in the middle of each forewing. They have a wingspan of about 4 cms.
The species has been found in :
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 389.
Pat and Mike Coupar,
Flying Colours,
New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 58.
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 1,
Silk Moths and Allies - BOMBYCOIDEA,
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2008, pp. 6-9.
A. Jefferis Turner,
Studies in australian Lepidoptera,
Annals of the Queensland Museum,
Volume 10 (1911), p. 89.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 30 March 2008, 6 April 2013, 17 December 2021)