Eutricha capensis, The Cape Lappet Moth _

            Cape Town
South Africa

Cape Lappet Moth Caterpillar on a boulder on the Cape of Good Hope In South Africa.

For those of you who have not seen my Cape Town images, there are two of them in the first comment section.

Eutricha capensis, the Cape lappet moth, is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae primarily found in South Africa. 

During the larval stage, cape lappets feed on a wide variety of African plants and can often be found aggregating in gardens. The caterpillars are brightly coloured and conspicuously hairy, while the bulky adult moths are mostly brown and much less striking in appearance.

The adults are large and stocky, with an average wingspan of about 70 mm (2.8 in). Both hind wings and fore wings are reddish brown. The fore wings are flecked with yellow and bear three wavy white stripes. Females are typically paler in colour and larger than males.

Adult moths lack developed mouthparts and therefore do not feed. The antennae of females are deeply pectinate and are the length of the thorax.
 
The larvae are distinctly hairy with rows of orange tufts of long hair along the sides of the body. Arranged at the head are 3 large coppery tufts and 2 smaller purple tufts. Along the dorsal side of the caterpillars is a row of black triangles flanked either side by white.

Gregarious as larvae, the caterpillars clump together in numbers. For E. capensis at least, aggregating behaviour appears to be of no benefit to the caterpillars in terms of either water or energy conservation. 

The emergence of the adults occurs in early summer. When disturbed, adults are non-aggressive. Wikipedia

Taken in: South Africa / Western Cape / Cape Town / Brightwater (show map)

Taken on: September 15, 2011

Tags:

South Africa 2011

Cape Of Good Hope

South Africa

Cape Lappet Moth

Eutricha capensis

Caterpillar

Family Lasiocampidae

Insect

Brightly Colored

Hairy

Adults Large And Stocky

Clump Together

Sue Roehl

Pentax K-7

Handheld

coth5

NGC « less

Sets appears in: • South Africa, Zimbabwe Sept. 2011 - Part 2

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