Oxythecta lygrosema Meyrick, 1885
 CHEZALA GOUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Oxythecta lygrosema
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

These Caterpillars are thought to feed on the droppings of marsupials.

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

The adult moth has cream forewings each with several bold dark brown markings. The hindwings are pale brown fading to white at the bases. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

The species has been found in south-eastern Australia, including:

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

    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, p. 93.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera: Part XII,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 9, Part 5 (1885), p. 1054.

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    (written 21 October 2014, updated 25 October 2018, 8 July 2021)