| (one synonym : Boarmia virescens Turner, 1947) Variable Bark Moth BOARMIINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams,
Moths of Victoria: Part 7)
|
| (one synonym : Boarmia virescens Turner, 1947) Variable Bark Moth BOARMIINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams,
Moths of Victoria: Part 7)
The Caterpillars of this species are fawn speckled with dark grey. They have a pair of small horns on the second abdominal segment which they can erect showing pale yellow tips. The caterpillars only have their last pair of prolegs and their claspers on the abdomen, so they move in a looper fashion.
The pupa is brown with a sharp point on the tip of the abdomen.
The adult moths of this species have a complex pattern of black, brown, and white on the wings and the body. The hindwings have scalloped margins. The wingspan is about 3.5 cms.
The species has been found in:
The eggs are laid in lumpy masses. The eggs are ellipsoidal with ridges along the long axis. The eggs are initially grey, turning mauve as they mature.
The genus in which this species is currently placed (Boarmia) is inappropriate for this species, and also for those currently named Hypomecis externaria and Boarmia phloeopa. It has been suggested that all three should be placed in a new as yet undescribed genus.
Further reading :
Marilyn Hewish,
Moths of Victoria: Part 7,
Bark Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2016, pp. 26-27.
A. Jefferis Turner,
Revision of Australian Lepidoptera VI,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 42 (1917), p. 357-358, No. 75.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 31 December 2016, updated 1 January 2017, 22 August 2020)