| Cream-fringed Emerald GEOMETRINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Merlin Crossley, Melbourne, Victoria)
|
| Cream-fringed Emerald GEOMETRINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Merlin Crossley, Melbourne, Victoria)
This Caterpillar is thin and green, with the head end extended into two red horn-like points. A pale yellow lateral line extends from behind these points to the anal prolegs. A red spot marks each ventral prolegs.
It typically stands twig-like on its anal prolegs and single pair of ventral prolegs. It blends in well with the stalks of its foodplant. It feeds on various Wattles ( MIMOSACEAE ).
Pupation occurs in the leaf litter. Pupal duration is three weeks for Caterpillars pupating in December in Melbourne.
The adult is also green, and has two faint white zig-zag lines across each wing, and a yellow dorsal stripe on the abdomen. The marginal hairs of each wing and the costa of each forewing are pale orange. The hindwing margins are angled. The head has an orange collar. Because of the predominant green colour, this and related species of moths are called 'Emeralds'. The moth has a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The eggs are bright green also. They are oval like a rugby football, slightly flattened above and below and at each end.
The species is found in :
Further reading :
Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Part 4,
Emeralds and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (B),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2012, pp. 34-35.
Edward Meyrick,
Revision of Australian Lepidoptera. II,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 2, Part 4 (1888), p. 879, No. 49.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 4 July 2013, 16 June 2018, 7 February 2019, 15 November 2020)