Planolocha obliquata (T.P. Lucas, 1892)
Small Point Moth
 LITHININI,   ENNOMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


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

The Caterpillar of this species is a green looper, with some vague pale lines and patches, and sparse stiff hairs, each arising from a black dot. The caterpillar feeds on Ferns (POLYPODIOPHYTA), such as:

  • Ruddy Ground-fern ( Hypolepis rugosula ).


    female
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The wings of the adult moths of this species are brown, each with several variable markings sometimes including a vague diagonal line across each wing. The forewing tips are slightly hooked, and the margin of each wing has a bulge about halfway. The wingspan is about 2 cms.


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Ken Harris, Morwell National Park, Victoria)

    The species has been found in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria, and
  • Tasmania.


    undersides of mating pair, male hanging below
    (Photo: courtesy of Elaine McDonald, Nicholls Rivulet, Tasmania)

    Further reading

    Marilyn Hewish,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 7,
    Bark Moths and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (D)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2016, pp. 10-11.

    Thomas P. Lucas,
    On 34 new species of Australian Lepidoptera, with additional localities,
    Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
    Volume 8, Part 3 (1892), pp. 80-81.

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    (written 29 January 2017, updated 1 December 2025)