Poecilasthena pellucida (T.P. Lucas, 1892)
Pale Delicate
(previously known as Asthena pellucida)
ASTHENINI,   LARENTIINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Poecilasthena pellucida
male
(Photo: courtesy of Marilyn Hewish, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)

The adult moth of this species is off-white, with a faint series of wavy pale green lines across each wing, and a dark dot near the middle of each wing. The forewings have a brownish leading edge. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms. The green fades to brown in museum specimens.

Poecilasthena pellucida
female
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)

The species has been found in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.

    This species is often treated as a synonym for Poecilasthena thalassias but the latter has smooth hindwing margins and is smaller, so here, until further work is done, it is treated as a separate species.

    Poecilasthena pellucida
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Aila Keto, Springbrook, Queensland)


    Further reading:

    Thomas P. Lucas,
    On twenty new species of Australian Lepidoptera,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 2, Volume 7, Part 4 (1892), pp. 253-254.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 3,
    Waves & Carpets - GEOMETROIDEA (C)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2011, pp. 12-13, 32-33.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (written 14 September 2013, updated 30 May 2018, 13 November 2019)