| (previously known as Thiopsyche pryeri) HYPOCHROSINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
male
Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art
The Caterpillar of this species is thin and smooth, and is green with black markings. It has reduced prolegs, and walks in a looper fashion.
It has been found to feed on plants from the family LAURACEAE, including:
The caterpillar pupates in a sparse orange cocoon among the leaves of its foodplant.
The wings of the adult female moths are pale green, with sparse brown markings, including a cusp-shaped marginal band on each forewing. The forewing hind margins are also cusp-shaped. The males are more yellowish, with brown-edged lacunae, including an elliptical transparent window near the base of each forewing.
When disturbed, the moth creases its forewings which hides the brown margins, and reveals the transparent areas, which make it resemble the face of a large creature. The wingspan is about 3 cms.
The species has been found in :
and in Australia in:
Further reading :
Arthur G. Butler,
Descriptions of new species of Heterocera from Japan Part III Geometrites,
The Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
Series 5, Volume 1 (1878), p. 393.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 62.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 143.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 7 February 2010, 25 May 2013)