| (previously known as Tephrina inconspicua) MACARIINI, ENNOMINAE, GEOMETRIDAE, GEOMETROIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
BIO Photography Group, Biodiversity Institute of Ontario,
License:
CreativeCommons - Attribution Non-Commercial Share-Alike, 2010)
These caterpillars were introduced in 1998 from Kenya to control the introduced weed :
The caterpillars feed on its leaves.
The adult moths are pale brown with a dark submarginal line on each forewing. The moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.
The species is found across Africa, including
but now appear to have died out where they were introduced into Australia in
Further Reading
W.A. Palmer, C.J. Lockett, K.A.D.W. Senaratne, and A. McLennan,
The introduction and release of Chiasmia inconspicua and C. assimilis
(Lepidoptera: Geometridae) for the biological control of Acacia nilotica in Australia,
Biological Control,
Volume 41, Number 3 (2007), pp. 368-378.
William Warren,
New genera and species of moths from the Old-World regions in the Tring Museum,
Novitates Zoologicae,
Volume 4 (1897), p. 113, No. 268.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(written 25 January 2005, updated 3 January 2013)