About Day-flying Moths, Tigers, Magpie Moths

Arctiidae is a large and diverse family of moths including tiger moths, footmen, lichen moths and wasp moths. Many species have hairy caterpillars.

Magpie Moth

This photo show one of the day-flying Magpie Moths possibly Nyctemera secundiana. Helen Schwenke has raised larvae on a weed in the daisy family known as thickhead.

Photo: Robert Whyte

One of our young bushcare volunteers found this no-longer-living Magpie Moth during a Saturday afternoon session at Walton Bridge Reserve. Don Herbison-Evans helped us identify it to Nyctamera sp. probably N. secundiana. It is a male. The pectinate (feathery) antennae, a feature of males, are visible.

Spotted by the same young volunteer as mentioned above, this caterpillar is likely an Arctiid, probably a Nyctemera sp. though there are many caterpillars similar to this, not all of which can be identified with certainty.

Magpie Moth caterpillar.

Day-flying Tiger Moths

These Day-flying Tiger Moths possibly Amata annulata were observed on Monday 9 April 2007 on the Maculata trail in Mount Coot-tha Forest Park, mating. They did not readily disengage even when being photographed close-up. These moths have a black caterpillar with stiff brown hairs. They are often seen mating, and seem to rely more on wasp mimicry than flight to avoid predators.

Photo: Robert Whyte

Lichen Moth

Species such as this in the subfamily Lithosiinae are commonly called Lichen Moths because they feed on lichen. They have furry grey caterpillars about 10 mm that curl into a tight spiral when disturbed. The male moth has the feathery antennae. wingspan of about 15 mm. The females have simple filamentous antennae. The pale yellow and rounded eggs are laid in a spaced array on a leaf.

Photo: Robert Whyte

Lithosiinae Species Larva

This larva is not easy to identify to genus without its adult. Photo: Robert Whyte