Lacy emerald

Appearance

The female and male moths differ. The female is green with wavy white and yellow borders to the wings. She has a wing span of about 3 cm.
The male is also basically green, with a lacy white pattern. The male is slightly smaller than the female, having a wingspan of about 2.5 cms. The adults may be distinguished from those of some other species in this genus as the hind wings have a plain curved edge, with no scalloping.

Naming

Synonym
Eucyclodes insperata

Distribution

The species is found over much of Australia, including: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

Reproduction

Eggs hatch after about 20 days in summer in Melbourne.
The typical Caterpillar features are obscured in this animal by spiky extensions to its body: it looks as though it is clothed in armour. The whole body surface is covered with small hard round bumps. Large spikes extend sideways on abdominal segments 1 to 5, the first of these extending into a horizontal flange around the head and thorax. Its colour pattern is various shades of brown, with some cream lines and patches, and some light green patches at the bases of the larger spikes. It feeds on: Exocarpus ( SANTALACEAE ), Guava ( Psidium guajava, MYRTACEAE ), and Angophora ( MYRTACEAE ).
The Caterpillars take only about 20 days to reach pupation. They grow to a length of about 2 cm.
The pupal duration is about 26 days in summer in Melbourne.