Acyphas semiochrea
Encyclopedia
Acyphas semiochrea is a moth
of the Lymantriidae
family. It is found along most of the coast of Australia, including: New South Wales
, Queensland
, South Australia
, Tasmania
, Victoria
and Western Australia
.
The wingspan
is about 30 mm. Adult females are white and have an orange tuft on the tail. Males are also white but sometimes have a dark mark at the tornus of each forewing or a broad dark band along the margin of each forewing. The hairs around the thorax are sometimes yellowish. Sometimes the black skin of the thorax and/or abdomen shows through between the white hairs.
It is considered a pest on Pinus radiata, but has also been recorded feeding on Acacia
, Eucalyptus
, Pultenaea
, Dodonaea
, Choretrum
, Myoporum
and Tamarix
. The caterpillars are brown and hairy, with a pencil of black hairs each side of its head and a hairy tail.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Lymantriidae
Lymantriidae
Lymantriidae is a family of moths. Many of its component species are referred to as "Tussock moths" of one sort or another. The caterpillar, or larval, stage of these species often has a distinctive appearance of alternating bristles and haired projections...
family. It is found along most of the coast of Australia, including: New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
and Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 30 mm. Adult females are white and have an orange tuft on the tail. Males are also white but sometimes have a dark mark at the tornus of each forewing or a broad dark band along the margin of each forewing. The hairs around the thorax are sometimes yellowish. Sometimes the black skin of the thorax and/or abdomen shows through between the white hairs.
It is considered a pest on Pinus radiata, but has also been recorded feeding on Acacia
Acacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
, Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
, Pultenaea
Pultenaea
Pultenaea is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae-Faboideae that are native to Australia.Pultenaea is commonly known as “egg and bacon”, “golden” or “bush peas”.The genus is found in south west Western Australia and the eastern states...
, Dodonaea
Dodonaea
Dodonaea is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants in the soapberry family, Sapindaceae, with a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa, the Americas, southern Asia and Australasia. By far the highest species diversity is in Australia...
, Choretrum
Choretrum
Choretrum is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the sandalwood family, Santalaceae. The genus is endemic to Australia.Species include:*Choretrum candollei F.Muell. ex Benth. - White Sour Bush*Choretrum chrysanthum F.Muell....
, Myoporum
Myoporum
Myoporum is a genus of flowering plants in the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae . There are about 32 species within the genus, which is spread from Mauritius, across Australia to the Pacific Islands and up to China....
and Tamarix
Tamarix
The genus Tamarix is composed of about 50-60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa...
. The caterpillars are brown and hairy, with a pencil of black hairs each side of its head and a hairy tail.