Monoctenia smerintharia R. Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875
Dark Leaf Moth
(one synonym : Monoctenia calladelpha Lower, 1892)
OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Monoctenia smerintharia
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species are thought to feed on the leaves of

  • Gum Trees ( MYRTACEAE ).

    Monoctenia smerintharia
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Perth, Western Australia)

    The adult moths are brown, sometimes with black smudges and scalloped submarginal lines on the forewings and a reddish shading on the hindwings.

    Monoctenia smerintharia
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Perth, Western Australia)

    The wings have scalloped edges, and the forewing tips are recurved. The ends of the veins are tipped with black. The natural posture of the moths has the wings closed like a tent over the body, with the tip of the abdomen curved upward. The males have a wingspan of about 5.5 cms. The females have a wingspan of about 6 cms.

    Monoctenia smerintharia
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Perth, Western Australia)

    The species has been found in :

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

    It is curious that Paul Kay's photos shows a male with dark markings, and a plain female, whereas Felder & Rogenhofer drawings have them the other way around.

    Monoctenia smerintharia
    male, drawing by Felder & Rogenhofer, Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,

    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CXXIV, fig. 18,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    Monoctenia smerintharia
    female, drawing by Felder & Rogenhofer, Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,

    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CXXIV, fig. 19,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.


    Further reading :

    Rudolf Felder & Alois F. Rogenhofer,
    Zoologischer Theil: Lepidoptera,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), p. 14, and also Plate 124, figs. 18 and 19.

    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, 24 April 2018, 10 October 2020)