Choreutis ophiosema

Choreutis ophiosema (Lower, 1896)
(previously known as Simaethis ophiosema)
CHOREUTINAE, CHOREUTIDAE, SESIOIDEA

(Photo: courtesy of Lee-Anne Percival, Perth, Western Australia)

The caterpillars of this species are pale brown with four black warts on the side of each segment.

(Photo: courtesy of Lee-Anne Percival, Perth, Western Australia)

The caterpillars have been found feeding on:

Weeping Fig ( Ficus benjamina, MORACEAE ).

silk shelter
(Photo: courtesy of Lee-Anne Percival, Perth, Western Australia)

The caterpillars live in a silk shelter in a partly curled leaf. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 1 cm. They pupate in their silk shelter.

empty pupal skin
(Photo: courtesy of Lee-Anne Percival, Perth, Western Australia)

The pupa is brown, with a length of about 5 mms.

(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The adults have forewings and hindwings that have complex patterns of orange and brown. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

The species is found in :

as well as in Australia in:

Northern Territory,

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Lee-Anne Percival, Perth, Western Australia)