Anthela ocellata
Eyespot Anthelid moth at Amaroo, ACT
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| Anthela ocellata | WendyEM | 5 Apr 2025 | |
| Anthela ocellata | donhe | 24 Sep 2023 | |
| Anthela (genus) immature | chriselidie | 9 May 2022 |
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User's notes
I found this lovely guy walking across a bike path. It came from the direction of a couple of Eucalypts - maybe in search of a spot to pupate? It has a striking face (pictured) and short hair except for symmetrically placed bunches of long, white strands. When disturbed, it rolls up into a tight spiral, exposing broad black bands, and the white hair raised almost perpendicular to its body.
13 comments
13 May 2022
Update: the caterpillar vanished below some leaf litter on Tuesday (10th May) and hasn't been seen since. I assume it has constructed its cocoon there.
14 May 2022
Yes, I did take it home with me and put it in a large jar with soil, leaf litter and branches. It stayed on the "ground" and slowly disappeared into the leaf litter. I hope it will emerge as a moth at some point.
21 Aug 2022
The moth emerged sometime this week. Its wings are misshaped. It has laid a clutch of brown eggs.
22 Aug 2022
Excellent, thanks. Would it be too much to ask you to add a photo of the eggs, and of the uncovered empty cocoon?
22 Aug 2022
To me, Anthela basigera seems as likely, especially seeing the cater[illar looks quite like a photo on LBH.
22 Aug 2022
I have now added pictures of the eggs laid yesterday and of the recovered cocoon.
23 Aug 2022
A. basigera generally has higher contrast wing patterns, and seldom strays as far east as ACT.
23 Aug 2022
The abdomen is not orange in sighting
Anthela ocellata (Eyespot Anthelid moth) , so not A. xantharcha. Maybe Anthela ochroptera?
Anthela ocellata (Eyespot Anthelid moth) , so not A. xantharcha. Maybe Anthela ochroptera?
24 Sep 2023
The recurve in the forewing submarginal lines near the hind margin is like that of A. ocellata. The dorso-lateral pairs of narrow white tufts on the larva are like those of the A. ocellata larval photos on LBH. The pairs of dorso-lateral spots are rather dark in the photo of this specimen. @chriselidie: any chance they were pink?
25 Sep 2023
No, there was nothing pink on neither the caterpillar nor the moth as far as I could tell. This moth was identified as A. ocellata in the second sighting I tried to link to this one (https://api.naturemapr.org/api/sightings/4441499/images/1?r=35217) - even though the "nodules" on the caterpillar were not pink, as I thought they need to be.
Location information
- Coordinates 149.138909-35.173281
- Places Amaroo, ACT
Sighting information
- 1 Abundance
- 22 Aug 2022 09:04 AM Recorded on
- chriselidie Recorded by
- None. Associated plant
- None. Associated animal
- 25mm to 50mm Animal size
- Unknown Gender
- Larvae Breeding behaviour
Collections
- My flagged sightings chriselidie NatureMapr Canberra & Southern Tablelands Anthela ocellata Anthelid moths (Anthelidae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Insects
Species information
- Anthela ocellata Scientific name
- Eyespot Anthelid moth Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 800.31m 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