(one synonym : Chelonia pallida)
Black and White Tiger Moth
ARCTIINAE , ARCTIIDAE , NOCTUOIDEA
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 30 October 2008)
(Photo: courtesy of
Genevieve Schebeck)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 30 October 2008)
(Photo: courtesy of
Genevieve Schebeck)
Initially this Caterpillar emerges from a cluster of white eggs, which usually have been laid on a leaf of a foodplant. The Caterpillar is initially white with a black head. Later instars are brown and hairy with a brown head capsule and pale yellow spots on its back. The hairs cause a slight rash in some people.
It feeds nocturnally on a variety of herbaceous plants, including:
and in South Australia, it is a pest on plantations of:
Specimens have been observed feeding in daytime, but our experience is that these are parasitised. The Caterpillar grows to a length of 5 cms.
It pupates in a loose cocoon incorporating larval hairs and local detritus, under a log or bark or in a crevice. The pupa inside is a shiny very dark brown, with a length of about 2 cms.
The adult moths are very attractive, with a wingspan up to 6 cm, although the female is slightly larger than the male. The wing pattern is variable, but is commonly white with black markings.
The abdomen is ringed in black and scarlet. Under the white hairs, the thorax is black, unlike that of the similar species Spilosoma canescens, which has a white thorax.
The species may be found over the whole of the southern half of Australia, including
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 435.
Pat and Mike Coupar,
Flying Colours,
New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 34.
L.C. Haines,
Tiger Moths of the County of Cumberland, New South Wales,
Proceedings of the Royal Zoological Society of
New South Wales, April 1969, pp. 59-61, pl. VIII-IX.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 183.
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