NACOPHORINI , ENNOMINAE , GEOMETRIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Cathy Young
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 4 March 2005)
fifth instar
(Photo: copyright
Cathy Young)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Cathy Young
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 4 March 2005)
fifth instar
(Photo: copyright
Cathy Young)
When young, these Caterpillars are yellow with a light brown dorsal band. Mature larvae are green with a prominent lateral stripe consisting of raised bright orange spots on a yellowish-green background. The head is pale yellowish-green with a dark pink crown.
The ventral prolegs on abdominal segment six are complete, but those on segment five are reduced, and those on segments four and three are reduced even furthers.
The Caterpillars feed on the foliage of :
The adult moth has uniformly dark brown fore wings. The hind wings are fawn at the margins fading to white at the base. The moths have a wingspan of about 5 cms.
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 yellow, changing later become transparent. They appear to hatch after rain.
The species is found mainly in Western Australia.
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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