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iNat·204042SpeciesInsecta5,196 field observations
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  11. ›Achaea
Castor Semi-looper
Plate 1 of 11. (c) Shipher (士緯) Wu (吳), some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA) · via iNaturalist

Castor Semi-looper

Achaea janata

Achaea janata, the castor semi-looper or croton caterpillar, is an erebid moth, the caterpillars of which are termed 'semi-loopers' due to their mode of locomotion. It is found from the Indo-Australian tropics and subtropics, extending south to New Zealand and east through the Pacific archipelagoes to Easter Island. It is a major pest of castor throughout the world.

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From the article Achaea janata on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section

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Description

Its wingspan is about 60–70 mm. The species has a pale reddish-brown body. Forewings with prominent markings. A short sub-basal waved line and an obliquely waved antemedial and excised postmedial lines are present. Postmedial lines are often black suffused inside them. A speck is found at the end of the cell. A diffuse rufous band runs beyond the postmedial line, Hindwings black with medial white band. Three large white spots can be seen on outer margin, with whitish cilia. Ventral side grey suffused. Forewings with an oblique white postmedial band not reaching the costa. Two crenulate medial lines found on each wing. Eggs are small, spherical with a greenish color. Pupa is whitish green. Larva bluish grey speckled with blue black. Head black striped. Lateral and sub-lateral yellowish bands with intervening blue-grey line. A dorsal black stripe bordered by reddish-white spots between fourth and fifth somites. There is a pair of dorsal red tubercles on anal somite. Spiracles and forelegs are red. …

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Every page naming Achaea janata in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 204042.