Ciampa arietaria (Guenée, 1857)
(one synonym is : Chlenias crambaria)
Brown Pasture Looper
 NACOPHORINI ,   ENNOMINAE ,   GEOMETRIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

Ciampa arietaria
(Photo: courtesy of Agriculture Western Australia)

These Caterpillars are dark brown with a pale line each side along the shoulders. The head is a uniform pale brown colour. The Caterpillars are a pest on pastures, feeding on many herbaceous plants, including :

  • Capeweed ( Arctotheca calendula, ASTERACEAE ),
  • Stemless Thistle ( Onopordum acaulon, ASTERACEAE ),
  • Lupins ( Lupinus nanus, FABACEAE ),
  • Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa, FABACEAE ),
  • Storksbill ( Erodium species, GERANIACEAE ), and
  • Zedweed ( Zaluzianskya divaricata, SCROPHULACEAE ).

    Ciampa arietaria
    (Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Canberra)

    The adult moths have brown or grey forewings, with a pattern of forked and zigzag light and dark lines. The hindwings are a uniform pale fawn colour. The moths have a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    They occur over most of Australia, including

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

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 34.12, pp. 67, 364.

    Catherine J. Young,
    Characterisation of the Australian Nacophorini and a Phylogeny for the Geometridae from Molecular and Morphological Data, Ph.D. thesis, University of Tasmania, 2003.

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    (updated 2 May 2010)