Perginae larvae batch 1
Workbook
This is the first collection of Perginae larvae which I am aiming to rear through to adult stage.
My goal is to obtain female Perga dorsalis adults for COI barcoding in order to determine whether Perga dorsalis and Perga affinis individuals identified morphologically have different barcodes.
Collection of larvae near Wingan River - 10th September, 2025
On 9th September, 2025 I discovered an iNaturalist observation of black Perginae larvae at Wingan River on Princes Hwy.
On 10th September we drove down to that location and discovered a small eucalypt sapling with several clusters of black Perginae larvae, on a track leading to a farm gate, about 200m west of that iNaturalist observation.
Here is my iNaturalist observation of those larvae - “Wingan River larvae”.
We collected those larvae, returned to Wonboyn and placed them in the insect cage with bunches of eucalypt leaves (E. sieberi and E. globoidea) collected from saplings on our property. I estimate there are around 50 larvae in this collection.
The larvae formed 2 or 3 tight clusters on vegetation taken from their home tree. In the evening they moved onto the introduced vegetation and began actively feeding.
The next morning they had reformed clusters on or close to their original vegetation.
Morphology of Wingan River larvae compared to other Pseudoperga larvae
I removed a larvae and fixed it in 80% ethanol for a voucher specimen - #PW046
I compared this Wingan River individual to a voucher specimen of Pseudoperga ferruginea (#PW015, iNat observation), which was taken from a cluster of larvae laid by a female on Eucalyptus globoidea vegetation in late February, 2023 (iNat observation) and to specimen #PW016 of a Perginae larva collected from a eucalypt sapling near the Biolytix tank at the same time.
PW016 Perginae larva in eucalypt sapling near Biolytix tank
PW016 is very similar to PW015, suggesting it is also a Pseudoperga ferruginea larva.
Both larvae are similar to PW046 from the Wingan River collection, although the legs and the prothoracic pleurae (latero-tergal lobes) of the latter have dark patches not present in the P. ferruginea larvae.
The Wingan River larva is also different in appearance to larvae seen in iNat observations (e.g this one) at Mt. Buller during a hill-topping event where many female P. ferruginea were seen laying eggs and guarding clutches of larvae.
Another candidate for the Wingan River larvae is Pseudoperga lewisii. This page from the Tasmanian Insect Field Guide shows photos and videos of late stage Pseudoperga lewisii larvae from Hobart which look similar to the Wingan River larvae.
Wingan River larvae are very similar structurally to Perga affinis larvae
The Wingan River larvae are very similar to drawings and descriptions of Perga affinis affinis larvae in Carne (1962) and Tait (1962). I can find few if any structural features to separate them.
Comparison between Wingan River Perginae larva and 4th instar Perga affinis larva (from Carne, 1962)
Late instar larvae from a clutch which were raised to adult stage - iNaturalist observation by Chris Seager - and COI barcoded are shown in the photos below.
Moulting of Wingan River larva
Second larva removed from Wingan River clutch on 11/9/25. It moulted shortly before 8:07pm that evening.
Two hours later, the dorsal cuticle had darkened significantly and this colour change had spread to the thoracic segments by the next morning. The larva was returned to the cage that morning.
13th September afternoon
Larvae move as a cluster along a stem.
This is a workbook page … a part of our website where we record the observations and references used in making species identifications. The notes will not necessarily be complete. They are a record for our own use, but we are happy to share this information with others.