Dry-country Line-moth (one synonym : Anomoctena trisecta Turner, 1917) DIPTYCHINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Steve Williams,
Moths of Victoria: Part 5)
These Caterpillars initially are dark brown, later developing a paler head and dorsal surface. Later instars are green with a diminishing number of dark spots as the caterpillars mature. The caterpillars feed on the foliage of
Initially the caterpillars eat patches of the surface layer of a leaf, but later instars devour whole leaves from the edge inwards.
The adult moth is grey sometimes with sandy-brown patches, and with several dark zigzag lines. The dark line from the forewing tip does not penetrate the the submarginal zigzag line, and does not reach the next transverse wavy line. The hindwings are pale with broad dark margins. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.
The species has been found in:
The eggs are off-white and oval, with many tiny dimples. The eggs are laid in small irregular clusters.
Further reading :
Arthur G. Butler,
Descriptions of 21 new genera and 103 new species of Lepidoptera Heterocera from the Australian region,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
1886, Part 4, pp. 395-396, No. 22.
Marilyn Hewish,
Moths of Victoria: Part 5 - Satin Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (A),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2014, pp. 16-17.
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 63.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 25 August 2011, 16 September 2013, 2 January 2016, 11 November 2017, 19 September 2020)