Cleora lacteata (Warren, 1897)
 (one synonym: Cleora perbona L.B. Prout, 1937)
BOARMIINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Cleora lacteata
(Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

This Caterpillar is brown with a pattern of orange markings.

Cleora lacteata
(Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

The second abdominal segment bulges, and has a dorsal black and white mark.

Cleora lacteata
close-up of head
(Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

The caterpillar was found feeding on

  • Willgar ( Breynia oblongifolia, PHYLLANTHACEAE )

    Cleora lacteata
    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

    The caterpillar grew to a length of about 4 cms. It walked for about 100 metres before pupating under a leaf.

    Cleora lacteata
    (Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

    The adult moth of this species is pale grey or brown with a dark wavy lines across each wing, and an arc of black spots around the margin of each wing. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Cleora lacteata
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found in

  • New Britain,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Cleora lacteata
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    William Warren,
    New genera and species of Drepanulidae, Thyrididae, Epiplemidae, Uraniidae, and Geometridae in the Tring Museum.,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 4 (1897), p. 247, No. 144.

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    (written 4 March 2019, updated 14 November 2025)