Epidesmia hypenaria (Guenée, 1857)
Long-nosed Epidesmia
 (one synonym : Hemagalma inspersa Felder and Rogenhofer, 1875)
OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley

Epidesmia hypenaria
(Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

The adult moths are brown with a curved dark submarginal line outlining a darker marginal area on each forewing. The moths rest with the hindwings covered by the forewings, like a minature Concord aircraft. The moths keep the unusually long labial palps projected in front of the head like a beak. The moths have a wingspan of about 3.5 cms.

Epidesmia hypenaria
eggs, magnified
(Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

The eggs are bullet shaped, with 12 ridges around each one running from base to the apex.

Epidesmia hypenaria
underside
(Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield)

The species has been found in :

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

    Epidesmia hypenaria
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    Further reading :

    Achille Guenée,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Uranides et Phalénites,
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 10 (1857), p. 128, No. 1125.

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

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

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    (updated 31 March 2011, 16 August 2024)