Maurilia iconica

Maurilia iconica (Walker, 1857)
(one synonym : Briardia cervina Walker, 1866)
CHLOEPHORINAE , NOLIDAE

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

Maurilia iconica
male
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda)

The caterpillars of this species have a bulging thorax. They are brown with thin broken white lines along the body The caterpillars have been found feeding on :

Dhaora ( Anogeissus, COMBRETACEAE ),

Indian Almond ( Terminalia catappa, COMBRETACEAE ),

Resak ( Vatica, DIPTEROCARPACEAE ),

Meranti ( Shorea, DIPTEROCARPACEAE ),

Sugar Cane ( Saccharum, POACEAE ), and

Teak ( Tectona, VERBENACEAE ).

The caterpillars pupate in cocoon spun in a curled leaf.

The adult moths are dimorphic. The females are plain brown with faint dark zigzag lines across the forewings. The males have a large irregular orange spot outlined in dark brown on the costa of each forewing.

The species is found from south-east Asia to the south Pacific, including

Borneo,

Fiji,

Hong Kong,

Japan,
and also in:

Queensland, Australia.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 48.5, p. 458.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 187.