Thalaina angulosa Walker, 1865
Blotched Satin Moth
 DIPTYCHINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley

Thalaina angulosa
(Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

These Caterpillars are green with a conspicuous yellow line underlined in black extending along each side. The body has a scattering of dark dots. The body tapers uniformly from the head to the tail. The head has a pair of small orange and black horns.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on:

  • Golden Wattle ( Acacia pycnantha, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • White Mallee ( Eucalyptus dumosa, MYRTACEAE ), and
  • Velvet Bean ( Cassia tomentella, CAESALPINIACEAE ).

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

    The adult is a silky white, with a rusty zig-zag pattern outlined in black on each forewing. The forewing pattern is similar to that of Thalaina clara but that has a straight brown line from the costa to tornus, whereas Thalaina angulosa has a straight brown line from the base to near the middle of the margin.

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln, South Australia)

    The hindwings each bear a large irregular black subterminal patch, which is covered by the forewing when at rest. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found on mainland Australia, including:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • the south of Western Australia.

    Thalaina angulosa
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Ted Cadwallader)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 10.15, p. 365.

    Peter Hendry,
    Some notable Geometridae,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 53 (June 2009), pp. 22-25.

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 5,
    Satin Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2014, pp. 2, 18-19, 30-31.

    Peter B. McQuillan,
    A review of the Australian moth genus Thalaina (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae),
    Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.
    Volume 105, Issue 1 (1981) pp. 1-23.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), pp. 128-129.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 31 (1865), p. 289, No. 2.

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    (updated 2 January 2010, 10 August 2024)