Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE

caterpillar or pupa or cocoon at Hackett, ACT

Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE at Hackett, ACT - 5 May 2020 11:39 AM
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Identification history

Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE 5 May 2020 ibaird
Lepidoptera unclassified IMMATURE 5 May 2020 donhe
Unidentified 5 May 2020 trevorpreston

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5 comments

donhe wrote:
   5 May 2020
Can you take it into protective custody, and rear it to an adult?
trevorpreston wrote:
   5 May 2020
If only I had a field guide to caterpillars of the ACT!
donhe wrote:
   6 May 2020
In the CHBH website, there are approximately 1,000 Lepidoptera species listed as occurring in ACT, all with photos of the adult moths, but of which only about 200 have had caterpillar photos published. So we need people who find caterpillars not in those 200 to rear them to the adult moth to identify their species, so that in due course we can create such a field guide. If you don't rear them, you don't get a field guide.
waltraud wrote:
   6 May 2020
That's a challenge. Need to know / collect with the food plant...
donhe wrote:
   6 May 2020
Most caterpillars that one finds wandering about, rather than hiding on their foodplant, are seeking somewhere nice to pupate, so you do not need to feed them.
But if you find one on a plant, there is a good chance it feeds on that.
Otherwise the basic caterpillar foods in Australia are:
Gum leaves,
Wattle leaves,
Herbaceous plant leaves,
Grass, and
Lichen.

If an unknown caterpillar rejects all five, then rose petals and thinly sliced apple are good standbys. Apparently plants in Rosaceae have developed very few poisons.

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Additional information

  • 12mm to 25mm Animal size

Species information

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