Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs MothsAustralian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides) Bag-shelter Moth & Processionary Caterpillar Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty) Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti) Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Leptocneria binotata Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth) Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni) Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl) Yeperenye / Yipirinya
The commonly know Witchetty Grub pupates into the beautiful Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla).
This beautiful looking cossid moth Endoxyla leucomochla whose larval stage is commonly known as the Witchetty Grub, named after the Witchetty Bush (from which they are often found feeding), here in Central Australia.
The term Witchetty Grub has been applied to other larvae of other cossid moths, ghost moths (Hepialidae) and even longhorn beetles (Cerambycidae). It is a term that is usually applied where the larvae are considered food for human consumption. It is an important food source for the Aboriginal people.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Hexapoda
- Class: Insecta
- Informal: Pterygotes
- Order: Lepidoptera
- Unranked: Ditrysia
- Superfamily: Cossoidea
- Family: Cossidae
- Subfamily: Zeuzerrinae
- Genus: Endoxyla
- Species: Endoxyla leucomochla
Footnote & References
- Endoxyla leucomochla (Turner, 1915), Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/1d5211e7-c146-4107-b837-c73629c7a920
- Peter Latz, Bushfires and Bushtucker Aboriginal Plant Use in Central Australia, IAD Press, Alice Springs, 2004, p103-104
- Australian Museum – Witchetty Grubs
Alice Springs MothsAustralian Striped Hawk Moth (Hyles livornicoides) Bag-shelter Moth & Processionary Caterpillar Chasmina pulchra (White Beauty) Cossid Moth (Endoxyla leucomochla) Godart’s Hawkmoth (Agrius godarti) Helicoverpa punctigera (Australian Fruitworm) Laced Day-Moth (Ipanica cornigera) Leptocneria binotata Mocis alterna (Bean Looper Moth) Owlet Moth (Eudesmeola lawsoni) Sameodes cancellalis (Banded Pearl) Yeperenye / Yipirinya
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