Phallaria ophiusaria Guenée, 1857
Large Leaf Moth
 OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria)

This caterpillar is brown with a hairy pointed knob on the tail. It is often found standing straight at an angle on a branch, resembling a twig. It feeds on a variety of Australian native plants, including:

  • Golden Wattle ( Acacia pycnantha, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • Hopbush ( Dodonea species, SAPINDACEAE ) and
  • Beaked hakea ( Hakea rostrata, PROTEACEAE ).

    The caterpillars pupate in a cocoon spun in a dead leaf in ground debris.


    (Photo: courtesy of Michael Jefferies, Stanthorpe, Queensland)

    The adult moth has brown wings with a comma-shaped spot and a diagonal stripe on each wing. The moths have a wingspan of about 7 cms. The colour varies from greenish to orangish.


    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species has been found in:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 36.8, p. 368.

    Pat and Mike Coupar,
    Flying Colours,
    New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 49.

    Achille Guenée,
    Uranides et Phalénites,
    in Boisduval & Guenée:
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 9 (1857), pp. 186-187, No. 289.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 4,
    Emeralds and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (B)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2013, pp. 8-9.

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    (updated 16 June 2013, 18 June 2021)