Parosteodes fictiliaria (Guenée, 1857)
Dodonaea Moth
 (one synonym : Aspilates dissutata Walker, 1862)
MACARIINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley

Parosteodes fictiliaria
(Photo: copyright Catherine J. Young)

These Caterpillars are loopers, having most prolegs missing. Initially the caterpillars are grey with a brown head.

Parosteodes fictiliaria
(Photo: copyright Catherine J. Young)

Later they become brown with greenish sides. The caterpillars have been successfully reared on:

  • Sticky Hop Bush ( Dodonaea viscosa, SAPINDACEAE )

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 7)

    The pupa is dark brown with a length of about 2 cms.

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 7)

    The adult moths are a speckled fawn colour, with some individuals having one or two dark-edged pale curvy lines, or some having just dark spots on each forewing. The forewings have slightly hooked wingtips, and a slight bulge on the margin. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 7)

    The males are similar to the females, and just as variable. The antennae of the females are threadlike. The antennae of the males appear slightly thicker.

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 7)

    The eggs are oval and greenish, and covered in tiny pits.

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    eggs, magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 7)

    The species occurs in :

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • Lord Howe Island,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Parosteodes fictiliaria
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Burrill Lake, New South Wales)

    Further reading-

    Achille Guenée,
    Uranides et Phalénites,
    in Boisduval & Guenée:
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 10 (1857), p. 129, No. 1127, and also Plate 14, fig. 1.

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 7,
    Bark Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (D)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2016, pp. 16-17.

    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), p. 116.

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    (updated 4 May 2011, 29 March 2018, 29 October 2020, 19 December 2021)