Ethmia heliomela

Ethmia heliomela Lower, 1923
(one synonym : Ethmia olbista Turner, 1923)
ETHMIIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are dark green and black. They live in webs amongst the flowers of a foodplant. Initially they eat the flowers, and as they grow, they also eat the leaves of the plant. They feed on:

Kodo Wood ( Ehretia acuminata, BORAGINACEAE ).

The Caterpillars when mature pupate under the bark.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The adult moths have dark brown forewings, with a satin sheen to them, and two black dots on each one. The hind wings are yellow with black tips. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

The species occurs in

Queensland, and

northern New South Wales.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 248-249.

Oswald B. Lower,
Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 47 (1923), p. 54.

Jerry A. Powell,
Biology and Immature Stages of Australian Ethmiid Moths (Gelechioidea),
Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera,
Volume 20 (1981), Number 4, pp. 214-234.