The species is predominantly found in the coastal areas of Australia and the caterpillars which grow to about 90mm feed on eucalyptus leaves as well as other trees such as Macadamia and Pecan.
Saturday, 7 July 2018
Need a rename?
Investigating a fluffy white blob in a tree hollow and I found it to be a very hairy caterpillar which on a close look had quite striking colouring .
Identifying the species did not take too long although there are a couple of similar looking caterpillars. It is the larvae of one of the moths in the ANTHELIDAE family Anthela varia and the poor moth which is quite attractive, has the common name of "Hairy Mary", obviously derived from the caterpillar. Why poor Mary gets lumbered with the description rather than Harry or Gary or any other I don't know.
The species is predominantly found in the coastal areas of Australia and the caterpillars which grow to about 90mm feed on eucalyptus leaves as well as other trees such as Macadamia and Pecan.
The species is predominantly found in the coastal areas of Australia and the caterpillars which grow to about 90mm feed on eucalyptus leaves as well as other trees such as Macadamia and Pecan.
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