Syntherata janetta

Syntherata janetta (White, 1843)
(one synonym: Saturnia purpurascens)
SATURNIIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley & Sue Rostas

(updated 13 March 2009)

Syntherata janetta

This Caterpillar starts of as one of a row of eggs. The eggs are white and ovate, and have a diameter of about 0.5 mm.

The young Caterpillars are yellow and have stiff hairs all over.

Later they become olive green with pink-tipped tubercles each of which has a cluster of short stiff hairs.

(Photo: courtesy of Cory Robert Dale)

They have been found feeding on the foliage of a variety of tree such as :

Pepper Tree ( Schinus molle , ANACARDIACEAE ),

White Mangrove ( Avicennia marina, AVICENNIACEAE ),

Freshwater Mangroves ( Barringtonia acutangula, BARRINGTONIACEAE ),

Cheese Tree ( Glochidion ferdinandi, EUPHORBIACEAE ),

Billy Goat Plum ( Planchonia careya, LECYTHIDACEAE ),

Bagras ( Eucalyptus deglupta, MYRTACEAE ),

Olive ( Olea europaea, OLEACEA ),

Yellowwood ( Podocarpus spinulosus, PODOCARPACEAE ),

Alphitonia obtusifolia ( RHAMNACEAE ),

Yellow Mangrove ( Ceriops, RHIZOPHORACEAE ),

Queensland Apple ( Timonius rumphii, RUBIACEAE ), and

various types of Citrus: e.g. Lemon, Orange, ( RUTACEAE ).

The Caterpillar pupates in a stiff oval cocoon on the food plant or nearby vegetation.

(Specimen: courtesy of Anna Piper, Sydney)

There is a considerable variation in the coloration of adults of this species.

(Photo: courtesy of Cory Robert Dale)

The basic adult moth is yellow with two zig-zag brown or pink lines across each wing. The forewings each have a small transparent dot in the middle.

(Photo: courtesy of Evan Harris)

However, the wings often have grey areas, which may extend across the whole of the upper surface of the wings.

coloured variant : larva found and raised on
Camphor Laurel ( Cinnamomum camphora, LAURACEAE )
(Photo: courtesy of Cory Robert Dale)

The moth typically has a wingspan of 14 cms. The species occurs in New Guinea, and in the northern half of Australia, as far south as Newcastle. A picture of this caterpillar appears in a book of paintings on Moths and Butterflies by Helena and Harriet Scott - paintings done around 1850s-1860s while living on Ash Island in the Hunter estuary. There it is under its older name Antheraea janetta.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)