#2211 - Pseudocoremia suavis - Common Forest Looper
A Geometrid endemic to New Zealand, but in 2007 they started showing up in a garden in Cornwall as well, to everybody's surprise. It's possible they were coming from the plant nursery next door.
In New Zealand the caterpillars including southern beech (Nothofagus spp.), podocarps and kanuka (Kunzea ericoides), but they also eat European gorse (Ulex europaeus), and have defoliated exotic conifer plantations. Larvae in Cornwall were initially reared on Leyland cypress (Cupressus × leylandii) but were moved to Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) when they became unhealthy. They also fed on box (Buxus sempervirens) and yew (Taxus baccata) but preferred the pine.
The rest of the genus are also NZ endemics.
Katikati Bird Garden, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand