Traminda aventiaria (Guenée, 1857)
Cross-line Wave Moth
 (one synonym : Timandra molybdias Meyrick, 1889)
STERRHINAE,   GEOMETRIDAE,   GEOMETROIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Traminda aventiaria
(Photo: courtesy of Diana Davey, Yuraygir National Park, New South Wales)

These Caterpillars may be any colour from green to brown with variable white markings along the sides. The caterpillars have warts of various sizes along the back that resemble buds and leaflets of their foodplant. The caterpillars move in looper fashion as they are missing the first three pairs of prolegs.

Traminda aventiaria
(Photo: courtesy of Scott Gavins, Fraser Coast, Queensland)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on the flowers and young foliage of various plants, including :

  • Madras Thorn (Pithecellobium dulce,, FABACEAE),
  • Black Wattle (Acacia leiocalyx, MIMOSACEAE), and
  • Roses (Rosa species, ROSACEAE)

    Traminda aventiaria
    suspended pupa
    (Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The pupa is brown, and flattened with lateral flanges. It is suspended on silk threads typically between leaves.

    Traminda aventiaria
    (Photo: courtesy of Craig Nieminski, Darwin, Northern Territory)

    The adult moths of this species vary in colour from greenish to reddish, with a green sheen. There is a dark-edged yellow diagonal line across each wing. They have forewings with a recurve in the margin below the apex with a brown edging. The hindwings each have a pointed right angle bend halfway along the margin, giving each hindwing a kite-shape. The moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.

    The species is found across south-east Asia, from India to the Pacific, including :

  • Borneo,
  • India, and
  • Hong Kong,
  • Philippines,
  • Taiwan,
  • Thailand,

    and in Australia in:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Traminda aventiaria
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Diana Davey, Yuraygir National Park, New South Wales)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pl. 11.33, p. 375.

    Achille Guenée,
    Uranides et Phalénites,
    in Boisduval & Guenée: Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères,
    Volume 10, Part 2 (1857), p. 3, No. 896.

    Peter Hendry,
    Some notable Geometridae,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 53 (June 2009), pp. 22-25.

    J. Moss,
    The Moth Gnamptoloma aventiaria (Geometridae),
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club Newsletter,
    Issue 22 (September 2001), pp. 12-13.

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    (updated 7 August 2012, 21 May 2025)