Gum Snout Moth Caterpillar

Description:

Like a strip of dyed wool or a rough surfaced stem gall, the caterpillar in the main picture was resting flattened against a small branch between leaf stalks. It was about 40 mm long and in it's 4th week of development. Pic 1 shows it as a week-old, fully black, slim, hairy caterpillar. Pics 3 & 4 show the caterpillar in its second week and the main photo and Pics 4 & 5. in the third week.The change in colour and pattern is quite quick; they ended up covered with matted pink and pale brown hairs.

Habitat:

These caterpillars were released on Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis) after three weeks in a container. They feed on Eucalyptus.

Notes:

The caterpillars hatched from eggs that were laid on a car on a warm night. You can see the female laying the eggs in the spotting below http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/141... Temperatures on the following day reached around 41 deg C and some of the eggs were destroyed. We collected the desiccated-looking eggs that remained (still stuck to the hot car) and had them in a container for 3 weeks. About 8 eggs hatched after the first week, much to our surprise. They thrived on gum and acacia leaves. On the 4 th week we decided to release them in a nature reserve. It was a pleasure to see most of them yesterday, still on the young tree, well camouflaged. They are likely to pupate in another week and hopefully we might see some beautiful adults next season !! This moth caterpillar was previously incorrectly identified as that of a Rose Anthelid. My thanks to Peter Marriott for setting this right and providing the correct ID. Lasiocampid moth caterpillars are said to have a habit of hugging the stem they are on. This species appears to have a variety of forms. Family: Lasciocampidae Subfamily: Lasiocampinae