Monoctenia falernaria Guenée, 1857
Patched Leaf Moth
 (mispelled as Monoctenia fraternaria)
OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Cathy Byrne & Stella Crossley


(Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

This caterpillar is brown with an orange spiracle on each side of each segment surrounded by a reddish patch. The head is also reddish and speckled. It is a looper, having only two pairs of prolegs. The caterpillar feeds on:

  • various species of Gum Trees ( MYRTACEAE ).


    (Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

    The pupa is dark brown.


    (Photo: copyright Ken Harris, taken at Lake Condah, Victoria)

    The adult moth is also pinkish brown, with a few variable light and dark ragged patches and lines on each wing. The thorax is very hairy.


    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Victoria)

    The females have thread-like antennae, and have a wingspan of about 8 cms.


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Victoria)

    The males have feathery antennae, and have a wingspan of about 6 cms.


    male, drawing by Achille Guenée, listed as Monoctenia fraternaria    ,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Uranides et Phalénites,
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 9 (1857), Plate 7, fig 3,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

    The eggs are white, smooth, and oval.


    eggs, magified
    (Photo: copyright Cathy Byrne)

    The species occurs in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Elaine McDonald, Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania)

    Further reading :

    Achille Guenée,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Uranides et Phalénites,
    Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 9, Part 9 (1857), p. 184, No. 286, and also Plate 7, fig 3.

    Peter B. McQuillan,
    An overview of the Tasmanian geometrid moth fauna (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and its conservation status,
    Journal of Insect Conservation,
    Volume 8, Issues 2 & 3, June 2004, pp. 209-220.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 4,
    Emeralds and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (B)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2013, pp. 8-9.

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    (updated 16 June 2013, 15 October 2025)