Geometridae (family) IMMATURE

Unidentified IMMATURE Geometer moths at Weetangera, ACT

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Identification history

Geometridae (family) IMMATURE	6 Mar 2019	ibaird
Geometridae (family) IMMATURE	5 Mar 2019	donhe
Unidentified	2 Mar 2019	AlisonMilton

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10 comments

donhe wrote:

6 Mar 2019

Can you take it into protective custody, rear it to the adult moth or whatever, take a portrait of the resulting insect(s), and take it/them back to release it where you found it?

AlisonMilton wrote:

6 Mar 2019

Too late. I doubt I could find it again. I collect some caterpillars if I think they are new to me but I think this one is similar to Unidentified on 13 Feb 2019 which has been suggested as Phelotis cognata.

donhe wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Some of the moths of species in Geometridae have widely variable patterns, and can be distinguished externally only by subtle differences in the wiggles of the lines on the wings. So one may expect the larvae of different species to have only subtle differences from each other. I think that all encountered Geometridae larvae need to be reared, at this stage of our ignorance, to try and start working out by how much larvae may vary within a species, as well what differences are characteristic for each species.

donhe wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Your close-ups of the heads are very interesting. The spotty patterns on the heads and the placement of hairs on the head and thorax may well be diagnostic.

donhe wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Was this on Acacia baileyana? If this and your 4197586 are both P. cognata, that would mean it has been found on plants from 4 different families, which would be a fact worth documenting.

AlisonMilton wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Sorry, I don't know my plants very well. I know the family but not the species. This was the darker wattle that is common in areas of the Pinnacle and Umbagong, but it doesn't have the very fine leaves.

donhe wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Could you put a photo of the plant on CNM to see what our botanists make of it?

AlisonMilton wrote:

7 Mar 2019

Okay. I'll have to go out and take one. I did read of someone referring to 'black wattle' as the plant an insect was found on but don't know if this is the same plant.

AlisonMilton wrote:

8 Mar 2019

Don, I took a speciemen of the plant to the Field Nats meeting tonight and two people suggested it is Acacia dealbata.

donhe wrote:

9 Mar 2019

Good. Now we just have to identify it.

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