Poecilasthena anthodes (Meyrick, 1891)
Orange-grounded Delicate
(previously known as Asthena anthodes)
ASTHENINI,   LARENTIINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Poecilasthena anthodes
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar of this species is green with a dark line along the back, and a white line along each side above the legs.

Poecilasthena anthodes
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar is missing the front three pairs of prolegs, so walks in a looper fashion.

Poecilasthena anthodes
close-up of head and thorax
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

The caterpillar is thought to feed on the leaves of

  • Gum Trees (Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE).

    Poecilasthena anthodes
    (Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

    The caterpillar pupates amongst the ground debris.

    Poecilasthena anthodes
    (Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

    The adult moth is brown with a speckled pattern of darker brown, sometimes with vague wavy yellowish bands, and/or a dark dot near the middle, or a dark spot near the hind-margin of the forewings. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.

    Poecilasthena anthodes
    (Photo: courtesy of Joan Fearn, Moruya, New South Wales)

    The species is found over much of Australia, including:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Poecilasthena anthodes
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)


    Further reading:

    Peter B. McQuillan,
    An overview of the Tasmanian geometrid moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and its conservation status,
    Journal of Insect Conservation,
    Volume 8, Numbers 2-3, June 2004, pp. 209-220.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 3,
    Waves & Carpets - GEOMETROIDEA (C)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria,
    2011, pp. 32-33.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Revision of Australian Lepidoptera V,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 2, Volume 5, Part 4 (1890), pp. 816-817, No. 26.

    Dayong Xue and Malcolm J. Scoble,
    A review of the genera associated with the tribe Asthenini (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae),
    Bulletin of The Natural History Museum. Entomology Series,
    Volume 71, 2002, pp. 77-133.


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    (updated 13 September 2013, 16 May 2023)