Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 31 August 2008)

This caterpillar is black with white spots, except for the head and tail which are brown with black markings. The caterpillar has sparse black hairs.

It feeds on various plants from the family AMARYLLIDACEAE, including :
as well as :

The caterpillar often bores into the stems, or eats the flesh inside the leaves staying inside the intact translucent epidermis. On average, a caterpillar has been reported to eat 240 square centimetres of leaf in its lifetime. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 5 cms.

The adult moth has brown forewings. The hind wings are pale, darkening toward the margins. The wingspan is about 4 cms.

The pheromones have been elucidated.
The eggs are pale yellow, and laid in regular arrays of about 50 on the leaf of a foodplant.
The species occurs in :
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 465.
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