Epiplema coeruleotincta Warren, 1896
 (one synonym : Onychodes fulguraus Lucas, 1898)
EPIPLEMINAE,   URANIIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Epiplema coeruleotincta
(Photo: courtesy of Annabel Taylor, Mackay, Queensland)

The caterpillars of this species are pink with a brown shield on the back of most segments, but have a stubby pair of pink horns on the back of the first and last two segments. The head is brown with a pair of big shiny eye-like capsules.

The caterpillars have been found feeding on

  • Timon Tree (Timonius timon. RUBIACEAE).

    Epiplema coeruleotincta
    pupa in opened shelter
    (Photo: courtesy of Annabel Taylor, Mackay, Queensland)

    The caterpillars pupate in a curled leaves held together with sparse dark silk threads. The pupa is dark brown.

    Epiplema coeruleotincta
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The adult moths have a complex pattern, of shades of brown on each wing. The margin of each forewing is concave. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

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

    The species has been found in :

  • Queensland.

    Further reading :

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 214.

    William Warren,
    New Genera and Species of Pyralidae, Thyrididae, and Epiplemidae,
    Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
    6th Series, Part 17 (1896), p. 213.

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

    (updated 17 May 2010, 15 August 2026)