NACOPHORINI , ENNOMINAE , GEOMETRIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Catherine J. Young
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 15 December 2005)
fifth instar
(Photo: copyright
Cathy Young)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Catherine J. Young
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 15 December 2005)
fifth instar
(Photo: copyright
Cathy Young)
When young, these Caterpillars are brown with a pale brown head. Later they become green with fine purple wavy stripes, a red-edged white dorsal line, and brown-edged purple head.
The Caterpillars feed on the foliage of :
When at rest, the moths of this species fold their wing like a tent, unlike many other Geometrids which lay out their wings flat. They have a wingspan of about 5.4 cms.
Both sexes of adult moth have forewings that are greyish-brown flecked with greyish-white. The hind wings are a uniform satiny grey. These specimens were found in Tasmania.
The eggs are laid in a distinctive formation, at a slight angle to the substrate, and slightly overlapping each other, like roof shingles. The eggs are initially pale bluish-green mottled with paler green, changing later in colour to transparent on maturity. They appear to hatch after rain.
Further reading :
Peter B. McQuillan, Catherine J. Young, and A.M.M. Richardson, A revision of the Australian moth genus Paralaea Guest (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae), Invertebrate Taxonomy, Volume 15, part 3 (2001), pp. 277-317.
Catherine J. Young,
Characterisation of the Australian Nacophorini and a Phylogeny for the
Geometridae from Molecular and Morphological Data, Ph.D. thesis,
University of Tasmania, 2003.
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