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


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

These 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 CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

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

    The species occurs throughout the world, eg:

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

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

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • 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, 21 October 2018, 31 December 2019, 11 June 2020)