Identifying Australian Caterpillars

Search and Identify
Caterpillars in Australia
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Australia has about 20,000 species of moths and butterflies. The caterpillars of less than 5% of these species are known.

Most insect taxonomy has been performed using the adult forms, so usually the only way to determine the species of a caterpillar is to rear it through to the adult butterfly or moth, and then identify that. Even if you think you get a match using these webpages, please take it into protective custody, and rear it to the adult. We would love to see your photos of the caterpillar and of the resulting adult.

Click on one of the following 8 options :

BIG: 6 cms or more long,
hairy
small: shorter than 6 cms
hairy small smooth
small: shorter than 6 cms,
not hairy
sparse or short hairs,
smooth or warty
BIG: 6 cms or more long,
not hairy
sparse or short hairs,
smooth or warty
borer
lives in a borehole
in a stem, twig, branch, trunk, or the ground shelter
lives in a fixed shelter
made of silk or leaves or detritus case moth
lives in a case
carries the case around
maybe not be a caterpillar

Many caterpillars are very fussy about what they eat, so if you do not recognise it from the above links, if you can determine its foodplant family, you might recognise it from our lists at the foot of each of our :-

foodplant family webpages

If you cannot get enough information from the above webpages, please feel free to contact us, and tell us :-
country (not obvious from email !),
state or province or area,
length and diameter,
colour and description,
circumstances in which it was found,
possible foodplants, and
if at all possible: 3 photographs of it :
    1. from the side,
    2. from on top, and
    3. of the head in close up.

Please note that we do not know much about non-Australian species.

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(updated 3 June 2014, 6 April 2023)

BIG: 6 cms or more long, hairy	small: shorter than 6 cms hairy	small: shorter than 6 cms, not hairy sparse or short hairs, smooth or warty	BIG: 6 cms or more long, not hairy sparse or short hairs, smooth or warty
lives in a borehole in a stem, twig, branch, trunk, or the ground	lives in a fixed shelter made of silk or leaves or detritus	lives in a case carries the case around	maybe not be a caterpillar