Phrissogonus laticostata (Walker, 1862)
Apple Looper
 (one synonym : Scotosia canata Walker, 1862)
EUPITHECIINI,   LARENTIINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Ted Cadwallader & Stella Crossley

Phrissogonus laticostata

This Caterpillar starts life as one of a number of off-white spheroidal eggs laid individually.

Phrissogonus laticostata

The caterpillar is a minor pest on

  • Apples ( Malus pumila, ROSACEAE ).

    The caterpillar has also been found feeding on the flower buds of:

  • Sunflowers ( Helianthus annuus, ASTERACEAE ),
  • St. John's Wort ( Hypericum perforatum, CLUSIACEAE ),
  • Wattles ( Acacia species, MIMOSACEAE ), and
  • Goat's Beard ( Clematis aristata, RANUNCULACEAE ).

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    female
    (Photo: from Moths of Victoria: Part 3,)

    The adult moth is brown with a wavy pattern of darker brown.

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    male
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

    The male is notable for the projecting bunches of hair-like scales on the costa of each forewing. The wing span is about 1.5 cms.

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    close-up of a projection on forewing of male
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

    The coloration can vary considerably between individuals, although the zigzag patterns between areas is quite constant,

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species is found over the south Pacific including, including :

  • New Caledonia,
  • New Zealand,

    and in Australia in:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • Norfolk Island,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    In Sydney, counts were made of the number of adults coming to a nightly ultra-violet light, and the numbers totalled for each month of the year, showing possibly two generations per year :

    JanFebMarAprMayJun JulAugSepOctNovDec
    7
    6
    2
    0
    0
    0
    2
    5
    40
    8
    0
    16

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    female, laying an egg
    (Photo: courtesy of Jenni Horsnell, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales)

    Some taxonomists insist that the the Latin gender of the species name should agree with that of the genus, and the species should be named Phrissogonus laticostatus, but that is not what the original author (Francis Walker) named it.

    Phrissogonus laticostata
    male, underside
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 37.18, pp. 67, 376.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 109.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 3,
    Waves & Carpets - GEOMETROIDEA (C)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2011, pp. 30-31.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 24 (1862), p. 1196, No. 66.

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    (updated 13 September 2013, 23 December 2016, 17 August 2020)