Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Debbie Matthews Lott
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 30 November 2008)
(Photo: courtesy of the
Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)
This is a tiny green Caterpillar which is covered in long white scale-like bristles which are modified setae. It may have a reddish line down its back. It usually feeds by tunneling into the flower buds of its food plants. From Gympie to Sydney it is a pest on:
and it is also known to feed on various other plant species (especially the flower buds and flowers) including :
The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 1 cm.
The pupa is formed on the stalk of an eaten flower bud. It has no cocoon but is attached to the stalk by a cremaster. Its colour is green with brown patches, and it is spiny, being covered with white setae. When pupation is complete, the discarded Caterpillar skin is left crumpled up at the tail end. The pupal period is about a week.
The adult moths have a wingspan of about 1 cm. The fore and hind wings are each composed of feather-like plumes. These are buff with brown marks. The legs are very long and carry tibial spurs. When resting, the moth sits with its abdomen curved up into the air,and its wings held at right angles to the body with the plumes folded, which makes it look remarkably like a piece of grass.
The species is known the world over, for example in :
Further reading :
J. Cassani, D.H. Habeck, and D.L. Matthews,
Life history of a plume moth Sphenarches anisodactylus (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae),
Florida Entomolologist
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, Fig. 30.17, p. 333.
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