Chelepteryx collesi

White-stemmed Gum Moth at Hughes, ACT

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Identification history

	Chelepteryx collesi	3 May 2020	GlennCocking
	Chelepteryx collesi	22 Sep 2019	JackyF

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User's notes

Large empty cocoon with brown hairs on outside and bits of empty shiny brown chrysalis inside, on dead gum trunk about 1.2 m from ground

5 comments

donhe wrote:

23 Sep 2019

A bit small for Chelepteryx collesi, and the silk is not smoothly streamlined onto the trunk like C. collesi cocoons usually are.

JackyF wrote:

23 Sep 2019

Don - Sorry, I have attached a slightly better photo with ruler next to it, but probably not good enough to help.

donhe wrote:

24 Sep 2019

I do not know any moth species that just attach an ellipsoidal cocoon with no camouflage vertically on a trunk like that. It is so conspicuous. But there many cocoons I do not know.
Its form suggests Bombycoidea.
I think it is too large for local Lasiocampidae, Eupterotidae, or Saturniidae; and Sphingidae usually pupate under the soil. For Anthelidae, I think it is too large for an Anthela species. The next largest to C. collesi is C. chalepteryx, but that caterpillar feeds on Acacia species, so its cocoon would be unlikely to be on a Gum trunk. Quite a puzzle.

GlennCocking wrote:

3 May 2020

C. collesi do spin cocoons in open sight (although usually under some sort of overhang), apparentlyre relying on the tough spined cocoon rather than disguise.

JackyF wrote:

3 May 2020

Thanks so much.

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Location information

Coordinates 149.097849 -35.327839
Maps Hughes Grassy Woodland Red Hill to Yarralumla Creek
Places Hughes, ACT

Sighting information

1 Abundance
23 Sep 2019 10:10 AM Recorded on
JackyF Recorded by
Collections
JackyF Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Anthelid moths (Anthelidae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects

Additional information

Dead gum Associated plant
50mm or larger Animal size

Species information

Chelepteryx collesi Scientific name
White-stemmed Gum Moth Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 819.8m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania