Epidesmia chilonaria (Herrich-Schaffer, [1855])
Golden-winged Epidesmia
(formerly known as Hemagalma chilonaria)
OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley
and
Mike & Pat Coupar

Epidesmia chilonaria
(Photo from: "Flying Colours", Coupar & Coupar, 1992)

The Caterpillars of this species feed on the foliage of plants in MYRTACEAE, including:

  • various species of Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus ), and
  • Bottlebrush ( Callistemon ).

    They are brown with two white spots on each segment. They are loopers with only two pairs of prolegs. They grow to a length of about 4 cms.

    Epidesmia chilonaria
    (Photo: courtesy of S. Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 4)

    The caterpillars pupate in a loose cocoon in the debris on the soil surface.

    Epidesmia chilonaria
    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The adult moth has brown forewings with a line across them, and a white line along the costa. The hindwings are yellow, sometimes with a brown margin. Each wing often has a dark dot in the middle of it. In its natural posture, the forewings are held like a triangle, and cover the bright hindwings. The lines on each forewing are aligned to look like the midvein of a leaf. The forewings each have a recurved pointed wingtip. The undersides have a dark blotch near the margin of each wing. The wingspan can reach up to 4 cms.

    Epidesmia chilonaria
    (Photo: courtesy of Ken Harris, Morwell Park, Victoria)

    The species may be found in the south-eastern quarter of Australia, including

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


    Further reading :

    Pat and Mike Coupar,
    Flying Colours,
    New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 45.

    Peter Hendry,
    The genus Epidesmia (Lepidoptera: Geometridae),
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 102 (December 2021), pp. 34-39.

    Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer,
    Sammlung neuer oder wenig bekannter aussereuropäischer Schmetterlinge,
    Series I, Volume 1, Part 7 (1855), p. 64, and also Plate 62, fig. 350.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 4,
    Emeralds and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (B)
    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2012, pp. 14-15, 18-19.


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    (updated 20 June 2013, 16 August 2024)