(one synonym is: Xanthorhoe platydesma Lower, 1894) XANTHORHOINI, LARENTIINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
early instar
(Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Manly, New South Wales)
This Caterpillar is grey-brown and smooth, with a zigzag pattern along the sides.
These markings fade in later instars. In Sydney, the caterpillar was found feeding on:
It grows to a length of about 3 cms.
The adult moth is brown with a wavy pattern of darker brown. It has a wingspan of about 3 cms. Some specimens are paler than others. Some have four white dots, one on the outer edge of each wing.
Some have a large orange patch on each forewing.
The species occurs in
Further reading :
Oswald B. Lower,
New Australian Heterocera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 18 (1894), pp. 79-80.
Olga Schmidt,
Revision of Scotocyma Turner
(Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae),
Australian Journal of Entomology,
Volume 44 (2005), pp. 257–278.
Francis Walker,
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 35, Supplement 5 (1866), p. 1689.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 1 January 2010, 28 May 2017)