Idaea costaria (Walker, 1863) White-edged Wave (previously known as Acidalia costaria) STERRHINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)

These caterpillars are a patchy brown, with a wrinkly skin. They are missing three pairs of prolegs, so walk in a looper fashion. If disturbed on their foodplant, they readily drop to the ground. It is not clear what they prefer to feed on. In captivity they fed on fresh and dead leaves of Eucalyptus mellidora, but did not thrive.

pupa
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)

The pupa is brown.

(Photo: courtesy of Katarina Christenson, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)

The adult moths are also brown, with complex variable dark patterns on the wings. The costa of each forewing is pale brown, and they are joined by a pale line across the head. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

The species has been found in :

Western Australia.

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

mating pair, male above, female below
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3)

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Further reading:

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. 104.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Part 3,
Waves & Carpets - GEOMETROIDEA (C),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2011, pp. 6-7, 10-11.

Francis Walker,
Geometrites,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 26 (1863), p. 1610.

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(updated 25 May 2012, 14 July 2023)