Dark Leaf Moth (one synonym : Monoctenia calladelpha Lower, 1892) OENOCHROMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)
The Caterpillars of this species are thought to feed on the leaves of
The adult moths are brown, sometimes with black smudges and scalloped submarginal lines on the forewings and a reddish shading on the hindwings.
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.
The species has been found in :
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.
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.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 16 June 2013, 24 April 2018, 10 October 2020)