Tachystola hemisema (Meyrick, 1885)
 (previously known as Ocystola hemisema)
CHEZALA GOUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Tachystola hemisema
(Photo: courtesy of Peter Marriott, Melbourne, Victoria)

This Caterpillar feeds on dead leaves of various

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillar lives in a shelter constructed by joining leaves with silk.

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

    The adult moths of this species have yellow forewings each with two black marks on the hind margin, one large and one small, and with a brown-edged orange submarginal band. The hindwings are a translucent with dark brown veins.

    The species has been found in :

  • New Zealand,
  • U.S.A.,

    as well as in Australia in

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

    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. 81-85.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera XII Oecophoridae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 1, Volume 9, Number 4 (1885), pp. 1063-1064, No. 366.

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    (written 1 February 2017, updated 25 October 2018, 23 October 2020)