''Targalla delatrix'', the eugenia caterpillar, is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Euteliidae Euteliidae is a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family was erected by Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who described over 1,000 species ...

. The species was first described by

Achille Guenée Achille Guenée (sometimes M.A. Guenée; 1 January 1809 – 30 December 1880) was a French lawyer and entomologist. Biography Achille Guenée was born in Chartres and died in Châteaudun. He was educated in Chartres, where he showed a very e ...

in 1852. It is widespread in the Indo-Australian tropics to

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

. It has also been recorded from

Rapa Iti Rapa, also called Rapa Iti, or "Little Rapa", to distinguish it from Easter Island, whose Polynesian name is Rapa Nui, is the largest and only inhabited island of the Bass Islands in French Polynesia. An older name for the island is Oparo. The ...

, the

Society Islands The Society Islands (french: Îles de la Société, officially ''Archipel de la Société;'' ty, Tōtaiete mā) are an archipelago located in the South Pacific Ocean. Politically, they are part of French Polynesia, an overseas country of the F ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Adults are brown with a subtle pattern on the forewings. The larvae feed on ''

Eugenia uniflora ''Eugenia uniflora'', the pitanga, Suriname cherry, Brazilian cherry, Cayenne cherry, cerisier carré, monkimonki kersie or ñangapirí, is a flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae, native to tropical South America’s east coast, ranging ...

'' and ''

Syzygium cumini ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

'' (

Myrtaceae Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, is a family of dicotyledonous plants placed within the order Myrtales. Myrtle, pōhutukawa, bay rum tree, clove, guava, acca (feijoa), allspice, and eucalyptus are some notable members of this group. All speci ...

).chm-thai.onep.go.th: Checklist of Forest Insects of Thailand
/ref> The larvae have a red-orange head, marked with clusters of yellow dots interveined with darker red. The body is translucent, greenish rose pink. The larva is sluggish, sitting outstretched on the undersides of young leaves of the host plant. Pupation takes place in the surface of the soil in a strong cocoon which incorporates leaf litter.

References

External links

* * Euteliinae Moths of Japan {{Euteliinae-stub