Fisera belidearia (R. Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)
Two-toned Crest-moth
 (formerly known as Chlenias belidearia)
DIPTYCHINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Fisera belidearia
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 5)

This Caterpillar is initially brown with some black marks. As it grows, it becomes green with a yellow-edged white stripe down its back, a blunt horn on the tail, and two blunt yellow-tipped horns on the head. The head and legs are pale reddish-brown.

Fisera belidearia
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 5)

The caterpillars feed on the foliage of

  • Gum Trees ( MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillars pupate in a cocoon in the soil.

    Fisera belidearia
    (Photo: courtesy of Duncan Fraser, Gippsland, Victoria)

    The adult moths have brown forewings, each with a central dark spot and a paler marginal half. The hindwings are grey. The forewings have slightly hooked wingtips. The wingspan is about 6 cms.

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

    The species occurs in:

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

    Fisera belidearia
    eggs, magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 5)

    The eggs are ellipsoidal and pale brown, and laid in irregular clumps. The eggs turn dark brown as hatching approaches.

    Fisera belidearia
    drawing by Rudolf Felder & Alois F. Rogenhofer, listed as Chlenias belidearia    ,
    Reise der Osterreichischen Fregatte Novara,
    Band 2, Abtheilung 2 (5) (1875), Plate CXXIV, fig. 9,
    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. 6, and also Plate 124, fig. 9.

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 5
    Satin Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2014, pp. 34-35.

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    (written 27 October 2014, updated 6 July 2018, 20 June 2021)