Geitoneura klugii

The eggs are either white or pale yellow in their initial stages and gradually change to a speckled purple within a few days of fertilisation. They have flat base and apex with a moderately thick shell, consisting of 14 to 18 rib-like striations. The laid eggs, however, remain dormant during the hot Australian summers. The larvae begin to develop within the eggs only if the autumn showers wet the eggs, the temperature falls, or the number of daylight hours decreases. The developed larva within the egg does not emerge until the prolonged autumn showers wet the eggs. Once the larva wants to emerge from the egg, it partially cuts open a part of the shell and pushes its way out. In most cases the larva eats the shell to immediately nourish its weak body. It then finds its way to young grass areas to further nourish itself.

In the first stage, the pale grey body of the larva has longitudinal brown lines, a number of black-knobbed hair like structures, a brown head with no horns, and a rear with no fork. In the following stages, the rear develops a fork, the longitudinal lines become green, and the larva itself becomes green. The mature larva is green and about 28 mm long. The feeding habits for the larva extend from winter through early spring. It feeds on grasses like slender tussock grass, kangaroo grass, and false brome.

Come pupation time, the larvae become yellowish green and the longitudinal lines disappear. The pupa stage lasts for 16 to 29 days during late spring and early summer and decreases during the peak summertime. The pupae are 11–13 mm long and pale green. They are suspended head downward from a silken pad at their abdomen, called a cremaster, either from a log, a food plant, or a stick.