Bag Shelter Moth
Male S21, dorsal
Ellura
Bag Shelter Moth
Male S20, dorsal, worn
 
                      
Bag Shelter Moth (Ochrogaster lunifer)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Oakworm (:Noctuoidea Notodontidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Bag Shelter Moth (Ochrogaster lunifer)
This Photo:     🔍Male S8, dorsal🔎
Other name: Processionary Caterpillar

Thank you Tony and Jenny Dominelli for confirming the id of this species for us

EXTRA - Photo Specific Information:
Our least patterned male. But the remaining pattern still aligns with the most patterned. We wonder if this part of a mating "criteria". Like with painted dragons where the females mate with 2 different colour morph males. Here, perhaps the patterns help a female choose a mate to maximise genetic diversity which is considered a strong & healthy scheme.
General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
Thank you Ethan Beaver for noting special characteristics of this species for us

See individual photo's for more information.
Head & body ~18mm, wingspan ~45mm (ours all seem to be similar size). Males & females have bipectinate antennae, with males having much longer (obvious to the naked eye) pectinations.
Caterpillars in our area seem very green to most other images. While male adult wing patterns vary considerably, they generally seem to be a subset of the most heavily marked specimens. At most a black transverse wavy line, with many white longitudinal lines; with at the least a tiny white spot. Females seem to only have a white spot, not white stripes. All our specimens have the same dull brown background, where as others vary between nearly black to ochre coloured backgrounds (Ethan's collection indicates strong geographic variation of the background colour, as well as size). It is considered these are a species complex. He even has a specimen with no orange on the abdomen!
Gender cannot be reliably determined from their posterial white scales, as these wear off and possibly vary in colour (in males). Ethan told us that these white scales are used to protect the eggs. He said "they form such a dense coating that ants and other small creatures cannot dislodge them to reach the eggs". The antennae, which are often well hidden, are the only reliable form of separation (but a striped specimen is most likely a male and a specimen with bulbous white "tail" will be a female).

Copyright © 2015-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 16-Oct-2015
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.