Pyroderces terminella (Walker, 1864)
 (also known as Anatrachyntis terminella)
COSMOPTERIGINAE,   COSMOPTERIGIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Pyroderces terminella
(Photo: courtesy of Graham McDonald, Mudgeeraba, Queensland)

These Caterpillars have been found in some very unlikely places :

  • deserted nests of the wasp Polistes,
  • galled flower buds on Two-Veined Hickory ( Acacia binervata, MIMOSACEAE ),
  • the egg sacs of the Golden Orb Spider Nephila edulis,
  • dead insects, and
  • dead leaves.

    The adult moth has brown and white patterned forewings, each with a dark submarginal band. The hindwings have trailing hairy fringes that are as long as the wings are wide. The eyes are red. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been found in:

  • Fiji,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, Fig. 25.1, p. 254.

    Peter Hendry,
    Communal pupation?,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club Newsletter,
    Issue 46 (September 2007), pp. 13-14.

    Francis Walker,
    Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 30 (1864), pp. 855-856, No. 38.

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    (updated 27 April 2007, 11 October 2013, 2 February 2014, 12 October 2021, 9 February 2022)