Blastobasis lignea Walsingham, 1894
Palm Moth
 (one synonym: Blastobasis sarcophaga Meyrick, 1902)
BLASTOBASIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


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

The caterpillars of this species have been found feeding on :

  • bird droppings,
  • catkins of Kauri Pine ( Agathis robusta, ARAUCARIACEAE ),
  • fruit of a Palm Tree ( ARECACEAE ),
  • fruit of Magenta Cherry ( Syzygium paniculatum, MYRTACEAE ), and
  • dead leaves of Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    The adult moths are brown with dark marks around the margin, and two broken dark diagonal stripes across each forewing.

    The species was introduced into Australia by accident from Europe. It is now found in :

  • Christmas Island,
  • England,
  • Holland,

    and in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 251.

    Lord Walsingham,
    Catalogue of the Pterophoridae, Tortricidae, and Tineidae of the Madeira Islands,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society London,
    1894, pp. 550-551.

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    (updated 2 March 2008, 15 February 2017)