Petelia medardaria

Petelia medardaria Herrich-Schaffer, [1856]
(one synonym : Bargosa chandubija Walker, 1860)
CABERINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA

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

Petelia medardaria
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species have been found feeding on a number of plants from the plant family RHAMNACEAE :

Toothbrush Tree ( Gouania species ),

Japanese Raisin Tree ( Hovenia dulcis ), and

Jujuba ( Ziziphus species ).

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

The adult moths are brown, sometimes with dark spots, and a straight dark line across the middle each wing. The underside has a dark spot near the middle under each wing, and broad dark margins. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

drawing by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer,
Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter aussereuropäischer Schmetterlinge,
Verzeichniss der in diesem Werke gelieferten Arten nach Reihenfolge ihrer Veroffentlichung,
Series I, Volume 1, Part 3 (1856), Plate 117, fig. 534,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University. The species may be found in

Borneo,

India,

Malaysia,

as well as in Australia in

Queensland.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

Further reading :

Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer,
Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter aussereuropäischer Schmetterlinge,
Verzeichniss der in diesem Werke gelieferten Arten nach Reihenfolge ihrer Veroffentlichung,
Series I, Volume 1, Part 3 (1856), p. 78, No. 534, and Plate 117, fig. 534.

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(updated 16 February 2010, 13 May 2021)