Nycticleptes lechriodesma Turner, 1939 OENOCHROMINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

male
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Moths of Victoria: Part 4)

The adult moths of this species are greyish brown with a paler marginal half to each wing. The forewing wingtips are recurved, and the margins scalloped The wingspan is about 5 cms.

female
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Nerren Nerren, Western Australia)

The female moths are a more uniform greyish brown than the males, and are slightly larger with a wingspan of about 6 cms.

resting pose
(Photo: courtesy of David Egan, Tarawi Nature Reserve, New South Wales)

In their natural resting pose, the moths align the their fore and hind wings so that the boundaries between the differently shaded areas are continuous, resembling the mid-vein on a leaf.

The species has been found in

Western Australia.

underside, male
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Kay, Nerren Nerren, Western Australia)

The adult moths have a coiled haustellum under the head, which they can uncoil, and through which they can sip nectar from flowers.

close-up of underside of head
(Photo: courtesy of Mark Heath, Yellowdine, Western Australia)

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Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 36.12, p. 369.

Peter Marriott,
Moths of Victoria: Part 4,
Emeralds and Allies - GEOMETROIDEA (B),
Entomological Society of Victoria, 2012, pp. 8-9.

A. Jefferis Turner,
New Australian Lepidoptera,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 50 (1939), p. 142.

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(updated 4 May 2014, 8 March 2020, 21 June 2021, 16 May 2022)