White-stemmed Gum Moth at Hughes, ACT
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.
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.
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Nearby sightings
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
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
- Up to 684m Recorded at altitude
- Machine learning
- External link More information
Record quality
- Images or audio
- More than one media file
- Confirmed by an expert moderator
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description
- Additional attributes
