Endrosis sarcitrella (Linnaeus, 1758)
White-shouldered House Moth
 (one synonym: Gelechia subditella Walker, 1864)
CHEZALA GOUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley



Drawing: William Butler, The larvæ of the British butterflies and moths,
Ray Society, London (1910), Plate CLXII, fig. 12,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

These Caterpillars are off-white, each with a dark brown head and collar. The caterpillars are synanthropic house pests, apparently feeding on any vegetable or animal material, including

  • grain,
  • dried fruit,
  • cocoa,
  • carpets,
  • dead insects, and
  • bird droppings.

    The species was introduced into Australia by accident.


    (Photo: courtesy of Michael Bedingfield, Conder, Australian Capital Territory)

    The adult moths are buff coloured, speckled with brown, with a pattern of dark markings. The moths have a white head and thorax. They have a wingspan of about 2 cms.


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

    The species has been found throughout the world, eg:

  • Canada,
  • Iceland,
  • New Zealand,
  • Great Britain,
  • the USA,

    and after its accidental introduction into Australia, occurs now all over the country, including:

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


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Michael Bedingfield, Conder, Australian Capital Territory)

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 68.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Oecophorine Genera of Australia I: The Wingia Group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 3,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1994, pp. 19, 33-34, 37.

    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. 21, 248, 250-251, 262.

    Carl von Linné,
    Insecta, Part 3 Lepidoptera,
    Systema Naturae (Edn 10, 1758) Volume 1, p. 536.

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    (updated 1 November 2012, 6 May 2025)