Ithome lassula Hodges, 1962
(previously known as : Eriphia lassula)
CHRYSOPELEINAE ,   COSMOPTERIGIDAE

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

(updated 23 September 2009)

Ithome lassula
The arrow indicates the rear end of a fully-grown caterpillar
(Photo: courtesy of Rod Elder, Queensland Beef Industry Institute & Intensive Livestock Section, a Partner in the Australian Tropical Dairy Institute,
Queensland Department of Primary Industries)

These Caterpillars are yellowish-green with a brown head. They feed on flowers and buds, especially of the introduced fodder plant :

  • Jumbie Bean ( Leucaena leucocephala, FABACEAE ).

    Ithome lassula
    (Picture: courtesy of Rod Elder, Queensland Beef Industry Institute & Intensive Livestock Section, a Partner in the Australian Tropical Dairy Institute,
    Queensland Department of Primary Industries)

    The adult moths have shiny black bodies and forewings. The forewings are fringed with hairs longer than the actual wingspan. The wingspan is about 0.9 cms.

    The species occurs naturally in :

  • USA,

    and was introduced by accident into Australia, occurring now in

  • Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 25.5, p. 256.


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