Oenosandra boisduvalii

Oenosandra boisduvalii Newman, 1856
Boisduval's Autumn Moth
(one synonym : Pterygosoma squamipunctum, R.Felder, 1874)
OENOSANDRIDAE, NOCTUOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Oenosandra boisduvalii
early instar
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The early instars of the Caterpillars of this species are greenish grey, with are darker line along the back separating rows of black spots, each spot with a stiff hair. The head and tail are brown, and there are a pair of shiny black plates behind the head.

later instar
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

Later instars become darker with a pair of faint broken wiggly pale lines along the back. The spots become white.

close-up of head and thorax, later instar
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar hides by day in groups under loose bark, and feeds nocturnally on :

various species of Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus, MYRTACEAE ).

pupa
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar grows to a length of about 3.5 cms. It spins a cocoon in a sheltered crevice. The pupa id brown with a line of black warts along each side, and fine black lines along the edge of each developing organ.

(Photo: courtesy of Nora Peters, Toolern Vale, near Melton, Victoria)

The adult moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms. Originally, the male and female moths were thought to be different species because they look so different.

Female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The female adult moth is white with a broad black line along each forewing ending in a black bar at the base. The body has alternate black and orange bands.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The male has fawn forewings speckled with black dots, and has pale hindwings.

(Photos : courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins and Sam,
Port Lincoln Junior Primary School, South Australia)

The species is found over much of Australia, including :

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

eggs (magnified)
(Photo : courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln, South Australia)

The eggs of this species are white and oval.

long egg cluster on twig covered in hairs
(Photo : courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria - Part 2)

They are laid in long clusters on a twig and covered in hairs by the female moth.

Female laying eggs on a She-Oak
(Photo: courtesy of Eileen Collins, Chiltern, Victoria)

underside, tail of male
(Photo: courtesy of Alistair & Carmen Drakes, Cook, Australian Capital Territory)

underside, female
(Photo: courtesy of John Bromilow, Mt Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory)

Further reading :

David Carter,
Butterflies and Moths, Collins Eyewitness Handbooks, Sydney 1992, p. 249.

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, figs. 42.13, 42.14, pl.30.6, p. 424.

Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 140.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria - Part 2,
Tiger Moths and Allies - NOCTUOIDEA (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2009, pp. 5-7.

Edward Newman,
Characters of a few Australian Lepidoptera, Collected by Mr. Thomas R. Oxley,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
New Series, Volume III, Number 8 (1856), p. 286.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 172.

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(updated 16 March 2012, 24 May 2023)