HOME Scotorythra euryphaea (Lepidoptera: Geometridae)

Endemic

Larvae

The green form is less common. Note that except for the greater size of the final instar, these forms are very similar to those of S. rara.

Female Male

The forewings of females are uniform in color and range from white to dark orange to brown. Those of males are more commonly solid dark brown; this is a less-common orange-striped specimen.

S. euryphaea is the largest geometrid on Kaua`i, and extremely common. If one walks through the swamp at night the eyeshine of cruising males is especially striking. I have caught dozens of males at malaise traps.

Host plants recorded from the Alaka`i Swamp:

By far the most common hosts are `ohi`a and `olapa, with caterpillars found occasionally on the other plants.

Development time in the laboratory at 20°C:

Larval development time varies greatly depending on the host plant. It can take over 12 weeks on Ilex anomala and Syzygium sandwicensis.

Larval parasitoids recorded from the Alaka`i Swamp:

S. euryphaea is one of the species that cannot be separated out as early instar larvae (when these parasitoids emerge) from other generalist Scotorythra. It is assumed that all of the generalist species can be attacked by these parasitoids.
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Maintained by: Laurie Henneman (M.L.Henneman@bris.ac.uk),
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol