Monoctenia falernaria
Patched Leaf Moth at Bruce, ACT
Identify this sighting
| Monoctenia falernaria | ibaird | 22 Apr 2020 | |
| Monoctenia falernaria | donhe | 22 Apr 2020 | |
| Epidesmia hypenaria | SuziBond | 22 Apr 2020 | |
| Unverified | Harrisi | 6 Apr 2020 |
Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.
9 comments
6 Apr 2020
I've photographed very similar caterpillars and they have always been moths. Have a look at the Coffs Harbour BUtterfly HOue web site. http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/larvae.html Also if you look at Suzi's butterfly book, butterfly larvae are not as long as these caterpillars.
7 Apr 2020
Thanks Alison, I'd certainly peruse Suzi's book for information if it hadn't fallen apart some months ago. Some critters have general rules for identification, I didn't realise length was used for determination within Lepidoptera but will try remember that from now on. Till now my basic rule was 'hairy and lairy' for moths and 'smooth and subtle' for butterflies; ironically the opposite of their mature states generally. Thanks again..
22 Apr 2020
Hi Stuart, I'm sorry your ACT butterfly field guide fell apart, if you message me I can organise a replacement copy for you.
22 Apr 2020
I have no idea what species of moth this is, but have suggested something to remove it from the butterflies and place it into the moths so a moth expert can look at it.
22 Apr 2020
It appears to have only one pair of prolegs. All butterfly larvae have the full set of 4 pairs. Only 3 (out of over 80) families of moths have larvae with reduced prolegs, and only in one family, Geometridae, there are species with larvae with only 1 pair. The small pair of pale tipped dorsal horns near the middle of the abdomen, and the rather rectangular head, look diagnostic, but they do not seem to match any of the 163 Geometrid larvae photos (out of 1,270 named Australian Geometridae species) on the Coffs Harbour Butterfly House website, see the webpage link on http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/geometridae/geometridae-cats.html
So to determine the species, it needs to be reared to the adult moth, as there are web-published photos of the adult moths of most of those 1,270 species.
22 Apr 2020
Aha: found a match: Monoctenia falernaria has the pale tipped dorsal horns and the rectangular head, although we do not know what the larvae of the other Monoctenia species (Monoctenia smerintharia) look like, so perhaps we should be more conservative and just suggest Monoctenia species till we know that ?
Location information
- Coordinates 149.097095-35.250851
- Maps Bruce Ridge Bruce Ridge to Gossan Hill
- Places Bruce, ACT
Sighting information
- At least 1 Abundance
- 31 Mar 2020 05:24 PM Recorded on
- Harrisi Recorded by
- Acacia sp. Associated plant
- 25mm to 50mm Animal size
Collections
- Insects Geometer moths (Geometridae) Moths (Lepidoptera) Harrisi Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr Monoctenia falernaria
Species information
- Monoctenia falernaria Scientific name
- Patched Leaf Moth Common name
- Not Sensitive
- Local native
- Non-invasive or negligible
- Up to 1331m Recorded at altitude
- External link More information
Record quality
Quality score
3 / 7
- Images or audio
- Verified by an expert moderator
- Additional attributes
- More than one media file
- Nearby sighting(s) of same species
- GPS evidence of location
- Description