Cyclotorna egena Meyrick, 1912
 CYCLOTORNIDAE,   ZYGAENOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Cyclotorna egena
early larva,
black and white line drawing by H. Knight, printed by Newmann & West,
in Dodd & Meyrick: 'Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland',
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1911, Plate XLVIII, fig. 16,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Caterpillars in this family are unusual in that they superficially resemble Woodlice ( ONISCIDEA ). They feed on the dried sugary masses created by

  • Leaf Hoppers ( PSYLLIDAE )

    Cyclotorna egena
    cocoon with partly extruded pupal skin    ,
    black and white line drawing by H. Knight, printed by Newmann & West,
    in Dodd & Meyrick: 'Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland',
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1911, Plate XLVIII, fig 17,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The caterpillars form a cocoon on the branch of the tree where they were feeding.

    Cyclotorna egena
    (Photo: courtesy of Geoffrey Cox , Greater Adelaide, South Australia)

    Adult moths have grey-brown forewings, each with a dark marginal half containg a vague dark mark. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

    Cyclotorna egena
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found in Australia in

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Edward Meyrick,
    Supplement to Frederick Parkhurst Dodd:
    Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1911, pp. 589-590 and also Plate 48, figs. 16 & 17.

    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (written 2 April 2017, updated 24 October 2026)