Species Acalyphes philorites Turner, 1926

Mature larva of Acalyphes philorites on Athrotaxis cupresssoides (pencil pine)

© Copyright C. Young

Fresh eggs of Acalyphes philorites

© Copyright C. Young

Acalyphes philorites, adult male.

Acalyphes philorites, male habitus

© Copyright C. Young

Museums

Regional Maps

• Acalyphes philorites Turner, A.J. 1926. New and little-known Tasmanian Lepidoptera. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1925: 81-117 [94].

  Type data:

   
  Syntype(s) ♂, Tasmania, Cradle Mountain, 3000 ft.; ♀, Tasmania, Cradle Mountain, 3000 ft.

Introduction

Acalyphes philorites was first placed into the Larentiinae by Turner (1926) on the basis of a typically larentiine wing venational character, the fusion of Sc + R1 with Rs in the hindwing for more than ¼ length of the cell. Subsequently, based on mainly superficial similarities, Acalyphes was moved to the Archiearinae by McQuillan and Edwards in 1996.

The adults of Acalyphes philorites have a relatively extended flying period from late spring to late summer. Females appear in the latter half of this period. The known distribution of this species is similar to that of Dirce aesiodora except that it extends further south in Tasmania to south of Frenchmans Cap (42˚16’S, 145˚49’E). Adults have typically cryptically coloured and patterned forewings in varying shades of greyish-brown, black, grey and white and the hindwings are an almost uniformly pale greyish-brown. These moths are active during periods of bright sunshine in the Tasmanian mountains and are relatively easy to intercept. They rest with forewings held tent-wise above the body and the hindwings covered. Males have been observed feeding on the flowers of Pentachondra pumila R. Br. on the Algonkian Mountain in Tasmania. Larvae feed on the Tasmanian Pencil Pine Athrotaxis cupressoides, similar to D. aesiodora, where they are well camouflaged against the bright green foliage (Young 2006).

Distribution

States

Tasmania

Extra Distribution Information

Australian Endemic.

Ecological Descriptors

Caterpillar: herbivore (associated flora: Athrotaxis cupressoides D.Don [CUPRESSACEAE] Pencil Pine).

General References

McQuillan, P.B. & Edwards, E.D. 1996. Geometridae. pp. 200-228 in Nielsen, E.S., Edwards, E.D. & Rangsi, T.V. (eds). Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing Vol. 4 xiv 529 pp. & CD-ROM.

Turner, A.J. 1926. A revision of Lepidoptera of Tasmania. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 1925: 118-151

Young, C.J. 2006. Molecular relationships of the Australian Ennominae (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) and implications for the phylogeny of the Geometridae from molecular and morphological data. Zootaxa 1264: 1–147

History of changes