climate by surly

Published June 1, 2015 at 2366 × 1894 in Very cloudy days in May 2015

A case moth

A case moth caterpillar on the rail of the veranda. It is a Saunders’ Case Moth, Metura elongatus. Taken at Manilla, NSW on a sunny afternoon in May 2015.

3 thoughts on “”

jaynefranks

June 1, 2015 at 21:05

HI. I’ve not seen one of these before but no surprises there I’m from the UK. Will it turn into a beautiful moth or does it’s impressiveness stop with the size of its cocoon. great photo, did you take it?

Reply
- surlybond
  
  June 2, 2015 at 00:08
  
  Hi Jayne
  Yes, I took the photos.
  I am fairly sure it is a Saunders Case Moth, Metura elongatus, in the family Psychidae. We see the cases quite often in gardens or in the bush. The male moth is rather odd looking, and the female is not seen.
  This is a good web-site:
  http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/psyc/elong.html
  The Queensland museum has a fact sheet, accessed by entering the keyword “Case moths” in the search panel on:
  http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/Learning+Resources/Resources#.VWxkuM-qpBc
  This species of case moth is also on youtube.
  
  Reply
  - jaynefranks
    
    June 4, 2015 at 07:39
    
    Thanks for the info I will have a look at those links. Cheers. Have a good one. x