Dr Cathy Byrne (TMAG Senior Curator of Zoology) and Di Moyle (honorary curator) were contracted by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment to develop an interactive key to identify caterpillar species in Australia.
They scoured the literature for information on caterpillars, examined specimens and painstakingly recorded data on hundreds of anatomical features for each family to gather the information required to enable the key to distinguish between most caterpillars encountered at the border or in the bush.
Cathy spoke to the Friends about the key in an engaging floor talk, which included a great overview of the lifecycle of moths and butterflies.
To check out the key, click here.
