About Thalaina selenaea (Doubleday, 1845)
Thalaina selenaea (Doubleday, 1845) has an approximate wingspan of 5 cm. Its wings are primarily white, with a rusty brown costa. Some specimens from southern populations have a rust-colored diagonal stripe running down each forewing. Each hindwing bears a brown and orange spot on its undersurface, and this spot may also be visible on the hindwing's upper surface. Caterpillars of this species can be distinguished from caterpillars of Thalaina clara by their lack of the wavy body outline and body rings that are present in T. clara. T. selenaea caterpillars are light green with long, sparse black hairs, and they have a red spot behind the head. They reach a maximum length of 4 cm when fully grown. The pupa is dark green with a brown abdomen when first formed, and later turns entirely brown. This species is distributed across most of southeastern Australia, ranging from Tasmania in the south through to central Queensland in the north. Depending on location, adult moths are most common during spring, especially in April. The larvae of T. selenaea feed on silver wattle (Acacia dealbata) and Australian blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon).
