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Project Noah Nature School
Opodipthera eucalypti
Red grub with yellow spots with spikes sticking out from spots.
Vegetable garden
Spotted on Aug 4, 2014
Submitted on Jul 20, 2014
3 Comments
Thankyou! Yes I did a search when we first found it and came up with nothing. Altough the images you found are lighter coloured than ours its the closest match. I'll update the name next time i get a chance. Thanks.
Hi Carolyn. I have asked around and done some research, and I believe your grub is an Emperor Gum Moth caterpillar (Opodiphthera eucalypti). These caterpillars are large, beautiful and colourful but I think pink ones are unusual. I have found some pictures of pink ones but they are all in New Zealand where the moth has been introduced. I have included some links here for you if you'd like to take a look. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opodiphther...
http://www.naturespic.com/NewZealand/ima...
http://www.naturespic.com/NewZealand/ima...
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-ne...
This one is from a blog by a primary school class in NZ - they hatched the caterpillars themselves. http://room15cts.blogspot.com.au/
Wow, this is really pretty. I thought it would be easy to identify with those bright colours, but I can't figure out what it is. I will ask around and hopefully someone will know. : )