Pests > Pests Entities > Insects > Moths & butterflies > Hyblaea sanguinea, Guam

July 2006. Caterpillars have recently defoliated most of the Vitex trees on Guam. The moth has a body length of 17 mm and wing span of 33 mm. It was thought to be the teak defoliator, Hyblaea purea, but according to a 1997 report by Waterhouse, H. sanguinea occurs in Guam, but not H. purea (issg.appfa.auckland.ac.nz/database/species/reference_files/MajInv.pdf ).

More images of the adult and caterpillars can be found on a fact sheet at: http://gisac.guam.net/index.php/Teak_defoliator_fact_sheet.

It was identified as Hyblaea sanguinea; H. puera is more of an orange colour.