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Emperor Gum Moth

22 November, 2009

Emperor Gum Moth - Opodiphthera eucalypti adult male
Image: Mike Coupar
Source: Mike Coupar

Question: Has the emperor gum moth declined in numbers recently?

Answer: The Emperor Gum Moth, (Opodiphthera eucalypti), is a spectacular species of moth that is found over most of Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand. It can be quite variable in colour ranging from grey, through straw-coloured, to almost brick red.

The caterpillars feed on a variety of species of gum, but will also feed on other plant species. The caterpillars need to consume enough food to complete the transition from caterpillar to moth and also to sustain the adult moth as the adults do not feed.

While the larvae of this species can cause some damage to trees with their eating of the leaves this species is not usually associated with widespread damage. The Emperor Gum Moth is a food source for large birds and is also parasitised by a number of insect species.

This species of moth used to be commonly seen in the larval form, as the caterpillars are large and quite spectacular with their colour scheme and spiky protuberances. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the caterpillars were more common a generation ago and the question has been raised as to the availability of any studies or proof that the numbers of this species are falling. While we have not been able to find any concrete evidence of their decline, some people of an older generation have reported that the moths both in the adult stage and as larvae are much less common now than when they were children.

The European Wasp is a predator of many native species including the Emperor Gum Moth caterpillars. The Senior Curator of Entomology at Melbourne Museum believes that the European Wasp has unfortunately had a huge impact on the population of this species in some areas.

Comments (47) popular | oldest | newest

When my children were little (30 years ago)one of the most interesting things we did was keep a dozen emperor gum moth caterpillars in a large aquarium, feed them and watch them pupate and turn into moths.They were very common then.(West Preston) Haven't seen a caterpillar or moth in at least 10 years-would love to do this activity with grand-daughter, but not much hope of that.

Yes, I clearly remember seeing heaps of emperor gum caterpillars! Big fat aqua giants - they were very spectacular. I'm very sorry to hear the wasps have had such a devastating impact. Next time I see one of those horrid wasps, I'll try extra hard to kill it (painlessly of course!)

I was amazed to find over a dozen very colourful caterpillars on young gum trees near Seninis in the Moondarra National Park this weekend. Now thanks to information on the web, I'm certain they are early stages of Emperor Gum Moths. Only with photos could I appreciate how brilliant they are. Other then controlling any wasp nests we find, what can we do to help ensure ongoing survival of these beautiful creatures?

Hi Linda,

The staff in the Live Exhibits Department have suggested the best thing is probably to leave them where you saw them. Some of the individuals may not survive but hopefully enough will make it to adulthood to breed.

I live in Michigan USA. I found a coccoon last fall. I brought it in my house all winter All winter. What came out was the most beautiful moth I ever saw an adult emporer moth. Are they common in Michigan? II just wanted to know. Can you tell me. I feel Blessed to have witnesses such beauty. Thanks from Michigan USA.

Hi Brenda,

The Emperor Gum Moth is a species that is native to Australia and has been introduced to New Zealand. We are not aware of it being officially recognised as being present in America. If you are able to take some good quality images please feel free to send them to discoverycentre@museum.vic.gov.au and we will have a look at them for you. Alternately you may also want to contact your local Museum to see whether there are any moth species in Michigan which may appear similar.

HELLO IS THERE ANYTHING FURTHER FROM BRENDA? I WAS TOLD BY FRIEND THAT THERE ARE VERY FEW INSECTS THAT WENT WITH OUR EUCALYPTS TO OTHER COUNTRIESSO THUS THEY DO VERY WELL

Hi Barry, we didn't receive any images from Brenda. You are correct that a number of Australian insects such as longicorn beetles and some weevil species cause damage to Eucalyptus plantations in America. This is because many of the predators that help to keep their numbers under control in Australia are absent in America. Other Australian insects such as the Cottony Cushion Scale have also made it to America and cause damage to the American citrus industry.

I suspect Brenda is confusing one of the many species of large American silk moths, like Anteraea polyphemus with the emperor gum moth. Anthony

QUESTION April 30 2010 I found a large cocoon about 2 months ago at Seabrook Beach in New Hampshire. This morning it hatched!It was surprising not only because I forgot I had it but because of the enormous moth staring at me when i was doing the dishes! I discovered it is an emporer gum and i was wondering what i should do with it?

Hi Andrea, if you still have the moth, capture it with a large container so as not to damage the wings, and release it outside.

We recently found an emporer Gum Moth here at our worksite In victoria Australia, we had some pretty bad weather this day and he was out of energy and was nearlly going to end up in a pool of water, i gently moved it away to a covered place and got our Enviro Engineer Jo to come and have a look, she picked him and took him inside and gave him a rest, after about half hour he was back to his happy self again and Jo let him go back into his natural environment, we were all very pleased to know we all helped in some way.

My sons found a tree at the bottom of their school which is covered in these guys. I hadn't seen them since I was a kid more than 30 years ago when they were really common - kids in class used to have them crawling all over themselves having forgotten how many were poked into pockets on the way to school! We are going to try to raise one in a box the way I did all those years ago. I had wondered why I hadn't seen one in years, wretched wasps!

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I am sooooo sad that I never got to see the loads of caterpillars my dad saw as a kid. Though I did manage to find only one tiny emperor gum caterpillar. This does show that not all of them survive. I reckon there should be a council to get rid of those pesky wasps.

We have just found many emperor gum caterpillars on a young Angophora costata tree in our yard in Mount Martha. I too have not seen these beautiful caterpillars since I was a child (decades ago!). For the first time my son is discovering these lovely caterpillars. Maybe the recent rains have something to do with their reemergence?

Hi, yesterday we found a large emperor moth, a little worse for wear, and the kids put it in their insect box, and it proceeded to lay eggs. We have a shoe box full of silk moth catapillers at the moment which we feed mulberry leaves. Can you please tell me which kinds of eucalyptus leaves we should feed them when they hatch- are any species poisonous to them?

Hi Willow, the adult moths have no mouthparts and so don’t feed at all. The caterpillars feed on just about any type of gum tree and while there are some gum species that they may not particularly like, there are none that are poisonous to them. They will also feed on Peppercorn trees (Schinus molle), Birches (Betula species) and Liquidamber. The best option is to offer small branches of several gum trees you have locally and see which one they like best.

One thing you need to keep in mind with Emperor Gum caterpillars is that they will readily drown themselves in jars of water you might use to keep the branches in. Make sure the top of an open jar holding branches is blocked by sponges or something similar that the caterpillars can’t get past.

I would love to be able to raise a few of these caterpillars again. It seems we have given up too much to introduced pests and urban sprawl If anyone has access could they please contact me. I live in St. Albans Victoria

I was absolutely thrilled to find a dozen large emperor gum caterpillars on a young flowering gum at our beach house in Phillip Island. I have not seen them since I was in primary school 50 years ago. They lived in the peppercorn trees of West preston state school.

Hi, my daughter found, and photographed on her phone, an emperor gum moth by a road near Hobart - I believe these moths are not often seen in this state.

Hi Margaret, the CSIRO website shows the Emperor Gum Moth as occuring in mainland Australia and also in Tasmania but it is hard to find good information as to their numbers in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery may have a better idea of the distribution of this species in their state. You can contact them here.

About a month ago (december 2010), my brothers and I found around 40 fully grown caterpillars at Lake Eildon. So we brought them home and they started to cocoon. I think it was about one week later they were all in cocoons. I have been researching up about them and from what I have found is that the moths can emerge any where between 4 months and 10 years. But this morning (Jan 2011) i have had an Emperor Gum Moth emerge. it has only been 1 month since they cocooned, so I'm wondering if it's unusual for it to hatch so quickly?

Talia

Good to hear from you again. As a population, Emperor Gum Moths seem to have a built-in range of emergence times, so some will emerge sooner, others later, some in years that are good for moths and others in years that are not so good. This way they hedge their bets against bad years and the overall population survives and, particularly in the good years, prospers.

In a good summer, however, especially an early warm summer, the first generation may go through its life cycle quickly, leaving time for a second generation before autumn.

This means they can emerge from the cocoon in as little as a month, although this is rare. As you've said, it's more likely to be between 4 months and 1-2 years.

Keep up the good work.

Hello I located some caterpillars at Coldstream and collected about ten. They pupated and one, having only a foam box to use collected the foam and made a white pupal case. To my surprise they have mostly emerged already. I have one female caged outside and she attracts several males at night.

WOW, it seems these beautiful caterpillars i remember collecting at school are making a return.Just this evening it was like winning tattslotto to find an emperor gum caterpillar while walking here in Ballarat,mind you,unforunately he was already deceased.But still excited !!

i grew up in balwyn and remember collecting them at the back of the rsl hall on a pepercorn tree. in the mid 1990's i saw a gum tree in albert park with caterpillars on it. about that time saw the larvae of its close relative helaena on a gum at trawool. id from the lack of turbecles on it. in 1997 i moved to townesville and used to often see them at night near lights at the bohle supermarket. definitely emporer gums, not the similar syntherata moths. on holidays last xmas in victoria i spotted a moth in daylight on a tree at polly mcquinns weir near strathbogie and the childhood memories came flooding back.

I too used to have them as pets many years ago and had not seen them for at least 30 years but to my delight I found about 10 happily munching away near birdsland reserve between lysterfeild and tecoma.

I found a male Emperor Gum Moth at Gerringong ( on the South coast of NSW) last night. It's the first of this species that I've seen for at least 30 years. It's been a hot, tropical spring and summer here. Insects are having a bumper year. I'm very relieved to see that this species is still hanging on.

Some friends of mine who live at Wollongbar on the Far North Coast of NSW have just had a tree FULL of these Emperor Gum moth caterpillars. They collected a few and watched the process of pupation with great interest as we had no idea what they were until now. HOWEVER, the caterpillars they had were very large (from my experience), jet-black, had fluoro-yellow stripes down their sides joining orange tubercles and white protuberances (the hairy bits sticking out in clusters like cactus hairs). They looked amazing and there was a tree-full. The tree they were feeding on was a native white-bean or cedar thing.

I have an original gauche painting of an Emperor Gum Moth sketched in 1843 by my g'g'g'g'grandmother. she was Charlotte Atkinson nee Waring, an accomplished artist & naturalist & mother of Caroline Louisa. Is it of interest to know that he species were around Sutton Forest inSydney region at that time. It is very well done & almost an exact likeness to the photographs on the web some 175 years later.

As well as fluctuating in relation to environmental conditions, the occurence of Emperor Gum Moths is probably a function of memory and history. I remember seeing a few as a kid around Bentliegh c. 1961, they made a huge impression on me I will never forget those fat Caterpillars, my nose was much closer to the leaves back then, I spent a lot of time with other kids in trees, staying quiet so as not to upset the old lady who lived next to the vacant block where we played

Can any one tell me how long the Moth usually takes to pupate? A Year 3 pupil has had a pupating moth for more than 3 months.

I found the Emperor Gum moth in Gig Harbor Washington. I took pictures of him.

I believe an adult Emperor Gum Moth landed in our garden today. We are on the mid north coast of NSW. Talk about HUGE!

Hi Marita, the Emperor Gum Moth is thought to have been introduced to New Zealand via imported hardwoods and has slowly expanded its distribution. This site has some information.

trying to id an orange caterpillar 6to7 cm 1cm dia. no stripes or spots. can you help. comes into house when rains.

Hi John, Museum Victoria has a free Identification Service. If you send us a photo of your caterpillar we'd be very happy to identify it for you. Alternatively you can bring the spider into the Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum for us to examine.

Found two of these on the surf coast in Victoria. I believe they were a mating couple, as one of them was particularly bright (colour used to attract females). I spotted them in the daytime, and they were extremely dosile (they wouldn't move when I touched them). Does this signify a particular stage of their development? Have they laid eggs and are now ready to die?

Hi Nick, it is quite likely that the moths will die soon after mating. Adult Emperor Gum Moths are usually found between November and March but don't feed; they mate, lay their eggs over several days and die.

6 days ago me, my brother and my friend found some bull ants EATING an emperor gum moth and they had eaten its wing so we took it inside put it in a box, next to a light, with wet eucalyptus leaves, it laid 41 eggs over 1 day and 2 nights then we left myrtle ford and it died

I'm located in the Southern Highlands and today found an exhausted female on the side of our house, with what I suspect are the last of her eggs. I am hoping that she laid the majority on the huge gum tree nearby. After hearing about the gorgeous caterpillars I will have to take some time to look around in the near future

About four years ago I was delighted to find 22 large Emperor Gum caterpillars in a small gum tree in my back yard. {Melbourne South East} ... Back in the 1950s I was a great fan of these caterpillars . So I called my grandson who was very keen to come around the next morning . That evening I found two possums in the tree feasting on the caterpillars . All I had to show my grandson the next day was one half of a large green caterpillars. "Beware of possums" .

I came across one of these on South Bank in Melbourne today. I've never seen one before, took a few pictures and now your website has enabled me to identify it.

The other day we found 1 was like Christmas because the last time I saw a gum was probably 13 years befor today we are caring for it gonna try breeding doing research and such best looking out of all the caterpillars I've found to this day

Thanks to your website I was able to identify this beautiful creature. I have found an adult emperor gum moth and I am in Hamilton, New Zealand, this is the first time I have ever seen one. It is very docile at the moment I hope it is not about to die...what should I do?

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Hi Natalie, adult Emperor Gum Moths do not live for very long; after emergence from their cocoon their sole purpose is to mate and lay eggs, the adults do not feed. So it may be that your moth has already mated or if not the best thing to do is leave it outside as it will be keen to try and mate.

We have just found two of these caterpillars in Whangarei NZ,very beauitiful to look at but did take me a step back when i first saw it never seen anything like it.Glad to have finally identified it.

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Emperor Gum Moth

22 November, 2009

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