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Hyblaea puera

Teak Defoliator

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Type	Description	Download
Image:	Adult and caterpillar	53KB
Image:	Display specimen and caterpillar	54KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Teak Defoliator

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - PNG/Queensland, ? - Cooks - ?, Costa Rica

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group - Rarotonga so far; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; caterpillar feeds on Vitex and Teak (Tectona grandis).

KEY FEATURES: Grey-brown moth to 17mmBL and 3cmWS. FOREWINGS grey to brown with 3 black blotches; HINDWINGS brown to black with 2 bright orange blotches (in Australia the orange is divided into 4 spots). CATERPILLAR to 25mm, with black sides and orange dorsally. Lives on Vitex.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Pests & Hosts

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Relationship	Hosts
Herbivorous pest	Tectona grandis, Vitex trifolia var. trifolia,

Scientific Taxonomy

Hyblaea puera
SYNONYMS: Nabara saga

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Lepidoptera; HYBLAEIDAE

More Information

GENERAL NOTE: Caterpillar uses silk thread to roll a leaf or tie leaves together to make a shelter. It hides in the shelter during the day and feeds at night.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen+photo, 9/2005, G.McCormack & P.Maddison, larvae on Vitex, with tentative ID as Hyblaea puera, ID confirmed from image by J.Dugdale as Hyblaea puera 10/2005.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB05b, zM05b, zD05b

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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