| Scopula rubraria | |
|---|---|
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| Female | |
 | |
| Male | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Geometridae |
| Genus: | Scopula |
| Species: | S. rubraria |
| Binomial name | |
| Scopula rubraria | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
| |
Scopula rubraria, also called a plantain moth, is a species of moth of the family Geometridae. It is native to Australia, New Caledonia and New Zealand.
This species was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1843 and originally named Ptychopoda rubraria. [1] [2]
It has straw coloured wings with zigzag markings. The wingspan is about 20 millimetres (0.79 in). [3]
It is found throughout New Zealand and Australia (especially the more coastal regions of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania), [4] in the Kermadec Islands, Norfolk Island and New Caledonia. [3]
The caterpillars feed on Plantago lanceolata [5] (narrow-leaved plantain), and have also been raised on Medicago sativa (lucerne) and the New Zealand endemic plantain Plantago spathulata. [6] With the increased planting of narrow-leaved plantain as a forage plant in New Zealand, it has become a nuisance for farmers, along with Epyaxa rosearia , another New Zealand geometrid moth whose caterpillars feed on plantain. [7]
