Macrobathra desmotoma Meyrick, 1886
COSMOPTERIGINAE,   COSMOPTERIGIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Macrobathra desmotoma
(Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

These Caterpillars are pale yellowish- green, with a brown stripe along each sides. The head is pale brown with four dark stripes. prothorax. The caterpillars have been found feeding on various Wattles (MIMOSACEAE) including

  • Green Wattle (Acacia decurrens), and
  • Black Wattle (Acacia mearnsii).

    Macrobathra desmotoma
    close-up of head
    (Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

    The caterpillars live in a shelter composed of leaflets joined with silk.

    Macrobathra desmotoma
    shelter
    (Photo: courtesy of David Akers, Won Wron, Victoria)

    The caterpillars pupate in their shelter.

    Macrobathra desmotoma
    (Photo: courtesy of Kevin McCue, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

    The adult moths have dark brown forewings with bold cream patches. The hindwings are brown with long hairy fringes along the hind margins. The small head is white or yellow, and has a dark collar. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    Macrobathra desmotoma
    (Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

    The species has been found in :

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

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


    Further reading :

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera: XII: Oecophoridae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 10, Part 4 (1886), pp. 806-807, No. 484.


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    (updated 21 August 2012, 9 December 2023)