Nataxa flavescens (Walker, 1855)
(one synonym: Dicreagra ochrocephala)
ANTHELIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Mike & Pat Coupar and Stella Crossley

(updated 24 February 2009)

Nataxa flavescens

This Caterpillar starts life as one of a row of buff eggs laid by its mother along the edge of a leaf or stem of its foodplant.

Nataxa flavescens

The Caterpillar is a slender, grey and yellow, and hairy, with two tufts of black hair behind the head, and a similar single tuft on the tail. Its head capsule is brown.

Nataxa flavescens
(Photo from: "Flying Colours", Coupar & Coupar, 1992)

It feeds on a variety of:

  • Wattles ( Acacia, MIMOSACEAE ).

    It grows to a length of 5 cms.

    It pupates in a cocoon under bark or in a crevice.

    Nataxa flavescens
    Female imago

    The adult males and females are very different. The female is larger with dark grey and white wings and an abdomen striped in white and grey, and has a wingspan up to 4 cm. The male has a wingspan up to 3 cm, and has orange, brown and cream wings.

    Nataxa flavescens
    Male imago
    (Photo from: "Flying Colours", Coupar & Coupar, 1992)

    The species can be found from Bundaberg to Hobart.


    Further reading :

    David Carter,
    Butterflies and Moths, Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 213.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pls. 14.4, 14.7, p. 396.

    Pat and Mike Coupar,
    Flying Colours, New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 30.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Vol 1: Bombycoidea,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2008, pp. 16-19.


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