Cryphaea xylina (Turner, 1917)
Woodland Geometrid
 (previously known as Heteroptila xylina)
DIPTYCHINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley

Cryphaea xylina
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 5)

These Caterpilars are initially brown, but later become green with a yellow line along each side. They are thought to feed on the foliage of

  • Gum Trees ( MYRTACEAE ).

    When mature, the caterpillars burrow into the ground and pupate in a tough cocoon.

    Cryphaea xylina
    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The wings of the adult moth of this species are a patchy brown with a broad darker marginal area on each wing, and two or three dark curvy submarginal lines. The abdomen is brown with a narrow dark transverse line on each abdominal segment. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

    Cryphaea xylina
    (Photo: courtesy of Jenny Holmes, Victoria)

    The species has been found in Australia in:

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

    Cryphaea xylina
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of John Bromilow, Ainslie, Australian Capital Territory)

    The eggs are brown and ellipsoidal, and minutely pitted. The eggs are laid in small clusters.

    Cryphaea xylina
    eggs, magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 5)

    Further reading:

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 5,
    Satin Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2014, pp. 16-19.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 63.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    Revision of the Australian Lepidoptera VI,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 42 (1917), pp. 369-370, No. 96.

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    (updated 27 August 2012, 18 May 2017, 11 October 2020)