White Tussock Moth
S2, Female, profile
Ellura
White Tussock Moth
S3, Adult, dorsal
 
                      
White Tussock Moth (Acyphas chionitis)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Tiger Moth (:Noctuoidea Erebidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: White Tussock Moth (Acyphas chionitis)
This Photo:     S2, Female, dorsal

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills and elsewhere
~10mm long, ~32mm wingspan.
These are very difficult to separate from A. semiochrea.
We have used the lack of any orange on the face & legs to put them in this group. They seem to inhabit the same regions.
The females use their orange/yellow ventral tuft to cover their eggs for protection. When we caught S5, she laid some eggs in the pot as shown here. They are <1mm diameter each. The larger egg mass shown is ~4mm wide.

Copyright © 2011-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 05-Apr-2011
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.