Common name : Flax looper moth
Scientific name : Orthoclydon praefactata
Family : Geometridae
Native to : New Zealand
Interesting fact : Due to its special diet where it feeds only on flax leaves, this specific moth has been nicknamed ‘flax looper moth’.
With a wingspan of 45 mm, the flax looper moths are sexually dimorphic, where the male is a brown colour and the female a glossy white. As mentioned, their diet is comprised of windows in the flax leaf, close to the mid veins of the leaf. The female lays eggs on the underside of the flax leaf, where greenish-brown caterpillars hatch and grow to at least 2.5 cm in length.
