Chelepteryx collesi
White-stemmed Gum Moth at Hughes, ACT
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| Chelepteryx collesi | GlennCocking | 3 May 2020 | |
| Chelepteryx collesi | JackyF | 22 Sep 2019 |
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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
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.
23 Sep 2019
Don - Sorry, I have attached a slightly better photo with ruler next to it, but probably not good enough to help.
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.
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.
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.
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
- Dead gum Associated plant
- 50mm or larger Animal size
Collections
- JackyF Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Chelepteryx collesi Anthelid moths (Anthelidae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects
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
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
6 / 7
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- Description
- Additional attributes
- GPS evidence of location