Epyaxa subidaria (Guenée, 1857)
Subidaria Moth
 (previously known as Coremia subidaria)
XANTHORHOINI,   LARENTIINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


early instar
(Photo: courtesy of S. Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 3).

These Caterpillars change their colour at each instar, through alternating various shades of green and brown.


later instar
(Photo: courtesy of S. Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 3).

They have been raised on

  • Burr Medic ( Medicago species, FABACEAE ).


    pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of S. Williams, Moths of Victoria: Part 3).

    The caterpillars pupate in a tough cocoon covered in frass and detritus amongst the ground debris.


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Laura Levens, Upper Beaconsfield, Victoria).

    The adult moth is brown with variable light and dark bands across the wings.


    extreme variant
    (Photo: courtesy of Aila Keto, Springbrook, Queensland)

    The moths have a wing span of about 2 cms. This moth sometimes rests with the wings folded up vertically like a butterfly.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3).

    The species has been found in Australia in :

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


    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 3).

    The adult moths of this species are similar in pattern to those of Epyaxa sodaliata, however the first line on the forewing meets the costa in an acute angle, whereas that of Epyaxa sodaliata meets it at a right angle.

    Further reading:

    Achille Guenée,
    Uranides et Phalénites II,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 10, Part 2 (1857), p. 412, No. 1565.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 111.

    Peter Marriott,
    Moths of Victoria: Part 3,
    Waves & Carpets - GEOMETROIDEA (C)    ,
    Entomological Society of Victoria, 2011, pp. 12-13, 26-27.

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    (updated 31 March 2011, 28 April 2025)