Leistomorpha brontoscopa Meyrick, 1884
 (one synonym : Leistomorpha macrozancla Turner, 1941)
CHEZALA GOUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Leistomorpha brontoscopa
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Australian Capital Territory)

These Caterpillars feed on fallen dead leaves of various species of

  • Gum Tree ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillars construct a shelter from two leaves joined with silk. The caterpillars pupate in a cocoon in their shelter.

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

    The adult moth of this species has dark brown forewings with two black-edged pale yellow marks on each hind margin. The first segment of each labial palp is unusually long for a species in OECOPHORINAE. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

    The species has been found in :

  • New South Wales, and
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria, and
  • Tasmania.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Oecophorine Genera of Australia II: The Chezala, Philobota and Eulechria groups (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 5,
    CSIRO Publishing, 1997, pp. 26, 204-207, 214.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. X. Oecophoridae (Continued),
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 8, Part 3 (1884), pp. 510-511.

    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 1 November 2012, 23 October 2018, 14 September 2020, 13 December 2021)