Hydriomenini

Young, Catherine J., 2006, Descriptions of the eggs of some southern Australian Geometridae (Lepidoptera), Zootaxa 1287, pp. 1-294 : 1-294

Comment on Hydriomenini

The eggs of these four genera show some heterogeneity, however the two Euphyia species and Melitulias graphicata are extremely similar. These eggs are globular or broadly elliptical with conspicuous, concave and hexagonal cells with elevated and moderately broad walls on all surfaces. The aeropyles are also conspicuous, domed with moderately large to extremely large openings and are absent from the middle of the top wider side. In E. nr severata and Melitulias graphicata the micropylar cell walls are overlain with a narrow reticulum and the chorion is regularly pitted. Although the eggs of the other two species show little similarity to this group, all genera have eggs with a pitted chorion. The eggs of the only Euphyia species described by Salkeld, E. intermediata Guenée , are dissimilar to the eggs of the Australian Euphyia species.

The eggs of the Hydriomenini described by Salkeld (1983) are also heterogeneous. However there is some resemblance between A. uncinata and the Nearctic genus Eulithis Hübner in cell reticulation, the irregular cell shape and pitting of the chorion. In her revision of the Australian Anachloris spp. , Schmidt (2001) suggested that Anachloris might have been misplaced into the Hydriomenini on the basis of male genitalic characters. It is difficult to either support or refute this hypothesis in view of the evidence presented here because of the heterogeneity of egg characters in the Hydriomenini . In turn, nr. Aponotoreas resembles the Nearctic cidariine Ecliptopera silaceata albolineata Packard in the rounded walls that are slightly humped at cell junctions, inconspicuous, unelevated aeropyles and pitted chorion.