Barea melanodelta (Meyrick, 1883)
 (previously known as Phloeopola melanodelta)
BAREA GROUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Barea melanodelta
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Blackheath, New South Wales)

The Caterpillars of this species are thought to feed on dead wood, burrowing under the bark of dead branches.

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

The moths have a complex pattern of light and dark brown on each forewing including large nearly triangular marks on the hind margins which are aligned in its natural posture to show a larger triangular area. The labial palps are long, and are normally held curving upward in front of the head. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

The species is found in south-eastern Australia, including:

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

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Oecophorine Genera of Australia I: The Wingia Group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 3,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1994, p. 33.

    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. 149, 155, 156, 160-162, 165.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro Lepidoptera. Part IX Oecophoridae (continued),
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 8, Part 3 (1883), pp. 359-360.

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    (updated 12 May 2011, 10 January 2015, 15 August 2019, 22 August 2021)