Masses of caterpillars hatch at McKinlay

Robert Bulley, of Moonamarra Station at McKinlay, discovered the army of caterpillars in his paddocks after 50 millimetres of rain.

"There are patches of them, it was like the ground was moving out on the flat today," Mr Bulley said.

"Probably just working their way through the herbage like they do crops.

"Must be good eating, Dude (his dog) has been using them as a buffet."

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Queensland Museum entomologist, Dr Chris Burwell, identified the caterpillars as White-lined Hawkmoth, Hyles livornicoides.

"That particular Hawkmoth is found throughout Australia and is found in a variety of habitats in the interior of the country where they breed. In desert and semidesert areas the adult moths can be exceedingly common - migrating into areas within a week of significant rainfall," Dr Burwell said.

"The adults lay eggs on a variety of vines and herbaceous plants that flourish following rain sometimes producing huge numbers of caterpillars - sometimes the caterpillars can be so thick on the ground that it's difficult to walk without treading on them."

Dr Burwell said the caterpillars looked fully grown and would soon turn into an adult moth.

"They're are either on the move looking for a place to transform into a pupa or perhaps they have consumed all the leaves on their foodplants and are moving off to search for more," he said.

"The eggs would have been laid by adults flying into the area. As for how long the phenomenon would last - it's hard to say but I imagine that the numbers would decline quite quickly as temperatures start to drop with the onset of winter."

This is not the first mass of inspects witnessed by cattle station owners - there was an influx of gidgee bugs in 2019.

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