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Painted Pine Moth Caterpillar

Painted Pine Moth - Orgyia australis Family Lymantriidae

Photo by Bishan
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

The Painted Pine Moth Caterpillars have the typical Tussock Moth Caterpillar look. Its head is bright red in colour. They are hairy, with four distinct tussocks of hair on their back make them look like a toothbrush. The hair can cause irritation if contact. They are usually found feeding on leaves during the day.

Habitat:

They feed on different type of trees including gum, wattle, Mangrove, Grevillea and as their name implies, pine. The caterpillars pupate in a woven cocoon under bark or foliage. The pupa covered with larval hairs which can cause problems if touched, or if they are released to blow about.

Notes:

As their common name imply, they feed on pine tree. Although they do not make big damage on the pine tree, their hairs course urticaria to the pine industry operators. They are considered as pest to the pine industry.

From the reference information, Painted Pine Moth caterpillars originally feed on Wattle Acacia and most other garden plants. They also have the common name Painted Acacia Moth.

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Photographed
PublishedNovember 22, 2018

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