Thalaina angulosa Walker, 1865
Blotched Satin Moth
 DIPTYCHINI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley

Thalaina angulosa
(Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

These Caterpillars are green with a conspicuous yellow line underlined in black extending along each side. The body has a scattering of dark dots. The body tapers uniformly from the head to the tail. The head has a pair of small orange and black horns.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on:

  • Golden Wattle ( Acacia pycnantha, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • White Mallee ( Eucalyptus dumosa, MYRTACEAE ), and
  • Velvet Bean ( Cassia tomentella, CAESALPINIACEAE ).

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

    The adult is a silky white, with a rusty zig-zag pattern outlined in black on each forewing. The forewing pattern is similar to that of Thalaina clara but that has a straight brown line from the costa to tornus, whereas Thalaina angulosa has a straight brown line from the base to near the middle of the margin.

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: courtesy of Lorraine Jenkins, Port Lincoln, South Australia)

    The hindwings each bear a large irregular black subterminal patch, which is covered by the forewing when at rest. The moth has a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Thalaina angulosa
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The species has been found on mainland Australia, including:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • the south of Western Australia.

    Thalaina angulosa
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Ted Cadwallader)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 10.15, p. 365.

    Peter Hendry,
    Some notable Geometridae,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 53 (June 2009), pp. 22-25,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 5,
    Satin Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2014, pp. 2, 18-19, 30-31.

    Peter B. McQuillan,
    A review of the Australian moth genus Thalaina (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae),
    Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia.
    Volume 105, Issue 1 (1981) pp. 1-23.

    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), pp. 128-129.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 31 (1865), p. 289, No. 2.

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    (updated 2 January 2010, 7 June 2014, 14 May 2021)