Black Slug Cup Moth - Doratifera casta
Family Limacodidae
This page contains pictures and information about Black Slug Cup Moths that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Caterpillar 25mm
- The Black Slug Cup Moth caterpillar is black in colour with white spikes. It has a orange-brown head. The caterpillar is legless and moves like a slug. On it thorax position there are four spikes with stinging hairs.
- This caterpillar feeds on gum and wattles leaves. We found Black Slug Cup Moth caterpillar caterpillar on blade grass in Macgregor Bushland during mid summer. Usually a caterpillar leaves its host plant only if it is fully grown and looking for a place to pupate. We then brought it home to see what would happen.
- Pupa 8 mm diameter
- We put the caterpillar in a glass jar. Two days later, the caterpillar pupated on the side of the glass jar. The pupa was brown in colour. The second picture shows the moth came out from the pupa after two weeks.
- Moth wingspan 30mm
- The moth was shiny brown in colour, with two black dots on each forewing. The moth looks identical to another moth Four-spotted Cup Moth in this family, although their caterpillar look very different.
The Food Plant
- The caterpillar are known to feed on Gum leaf and wattle leaf. We found that it also feed on Red Ash.
- Red Ash, Soap Tree, Soapy Ash
- Alphitonia excelsa
