31 October 2012

Happy Halloween

The extraordinary specimen is the larvae of the pink underwing moth, an endangered species only found in the Australian rainforest. Ecologist Lui Weber photographed the rare caterpillar, which is characterised by a set of teeth-like markings set between spots that look like eyes with large pupils.
One of the Pictures of the Day at The Telegraph. At the right is a photo of a related Catocala adult moth, from the Moth Photographers Group.

2 comments:

  1. The moth pictured is called Catocala concumbens...it is from the U.S.
    The caterpillar is The Imperial Fruit Sucking Moth (Phyllodes imperialis) from Australia.
    That moth also has pink underwings.....hence the confusion.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, anon. I've amended the text to say that the moth is "related" to the cat, not the adult form. The underwings are a large and complex group; I blogged my encounter with one several years ago -

      http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/05/can-anyone-id-this-apparently.html

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