Sphyrelata amotella (Walker, 1864)
 (one synonym : Sphyrelata laetifica Turner, 1917)
BAREA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Sphyrelata amotella
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The Caterpillar of this species has been found eating

  • Cork.

    Sphyrelata amotella
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adult moth is off-white with broad ragged dark brown bands on each forewing. The hindwings are off-white, shading to brown at the wingtips. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

    The species is found in

  • New Zealand,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Oecophorine Genera of Australia III: The Barea Group and Unplaced Genera (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 8,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2000, pp. 17, 177, 179-182, 185.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    Studies in Australian Lepidoptera,
    Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
    Volume 41 (1917), p. 116.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 30 (1864), p. 1034.

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    (written 20 March 2015, updated 20 December 2022)