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

Poecilasthena thalassias
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Blackheath, New South Wales)

The adult moth of this species is pale green, with lots of wiggly white lines across the wings, and with a narrow yellow edge to the costa of each forewing. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

Poecilasthena thalassias
underside
(Photo: courtesy of Jenn Morton, Charnwood, Australian Capital Territory)

This species has been found Australia in:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory, and
  • Victoria.

    This species is often treated as a senior synonym for Poecilasthena pellucida but the latter has scalloped hindwing margins and is larger, so here, until further work is done, they are treated here as a separate species.

    Further reading:

    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 6, Part 4 (1891), p. 813, No. 21.

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    (updated 14 Septembner 2013, 22 September 2020)