Pyrausta panopealis ( Walker), (formerly known as Rhodaria panopealis)
PYRAUSTINAE,   CRAMBIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Pyrausta panopealis
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The caterpillars of this species have been reported feeding on:

  • Fruity Mint ( Dicerandra frutescens ),
  • Knobweed ( Hyptis capitata ), and
  • Shiso ( Perilla frutescens )

    all of LAMIACEAE.


    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The adult has forewings that are deep yellow, with broad ragged red-brown lines across them. The hindwings are red-brown with broad splotchy deep yellow bands across them. The moth has a wingspan of about 2 cms.

    The pheromones of this species have been determined.

    Pyrausta panopealis
    (Photo: courtesy of J.F. Landry, Canadian National Collections, & Zhaofu Yang, BIO)

    Specimens have been found in Australia in

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

    The Chinese species Pyrausta panopealis (Walker, 1859) and the American species Pyrausta phoenicealis (Hubner, 1818) are often confused and it not clear to which species Australian specimen belong, or whether they may be yet another Pyrausta species. Current DNA evidence is confusing, so currently we follow the Australian Faunal Directory.

    Further reading :

    Buck Richardson,
     Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 48.

    Francis Walker,
    Pyralides,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 17 (1859), pp. 318-319, No. 19.

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    (updated 5 February 2010, 20 August 2026)