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Geometrid moth

Nearcha dasyzona ?

Photo by Mark Ridgway
Published on Project Noah
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-37.9498, 145.245

Field Notes

Description:

Small pale fawn moth with light patterns and tassled trailing edges on wings (30mm wide)
Thin ribbed antennae with slightly hooked tips.

Habitat:

Open dry grasslands

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (13)

That's great about the antennae - I had hoped there was a chance of sexual dimorphism.... and I sort of thought that might be the case with the eyes. Ok... might be as close as possible at this stage... thanks again.
The pale eyes may be caused by the light angle from your camera. Males may have feathered antennae while females are filaments. There will be variation within species (eg, seasons) and some google pics are identified incorrectly. A certain ID for these smaller moths can be a dream or a miracle.
Thanks for that martin. I still seem to have a problem with the antennae and eyes. Everything that looks close seems to have feathery or flat antennae and dark eyes.
Argybee. My suspicion is geometridae, sterrhinae, the varied wave. Scopula optivata They are variable and I an being a bit presumptuous to assume a species ID from a photo and without an expert by our sides. Anyway, in the interests of pursuing a lead try http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/laural/laural126.jpg http://morwellnp.pangaean.net/cgi-bin/show_species.cgi?find_this=Scopula%20optivata&image_letter=&show_image=../images/half_size/Scopula_optivata_half&show_date=2070-11-20&show_caption=Varied%20Wave%20Moth%20by%20the%20Zigzag%20Track#expansion
Thanks bayucca. I agree with that assessment. I think it's so close that species variation might account for any differences. Sorry about the bad photo - only got a small opportunity with this one.
Looking at the link, I think that might be a candidate. But even with the perspective and bright light the quite broad and dark stripe Dasyzona should be in my eyes a little bit clearly visible. But since I am definitely not an expert in Australian moth i would not dare to do some further comment on this one. There are certainly better ones to help.
Thanks Nuwan and bayucca - please let me know if you don't like that id
Ok... I'm currently with Nearcha dasyzona http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/chro/dasyzona.html
Definitely a moth and Geometridae sounds good...
Do you know a family name? The antennae made me think not a moth.

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