Thema xiphochrysa (Lower, 1905) (one synonym is Pleurota himantias Meyrick, 1913) CHEZALA GOUP OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans, (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley

(Photo: courtesy of Cathy Powers, Brisbane Ranges, Victoria)

The Caterpillars of species in this genus feed on dead leaves in the leaf litter on the ground under trees.

The forewings of the adult moth of this species have white or yellow forewings, with dark brown lines along and across the forewings. The hindwings are pale brown darkening towards the wingtips. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

The species has been reported in

Tasmania.

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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. 175-176.

Oswald B. Lower,
New Australian Lepidoptera, No. XXII,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 29 (1905), p. 108.

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(written 2 February 2017, updated 26 October 2018, 5 July 2021)