Eulechria heliophanes

Eulechria heliophanes (Lower, 1894)
(previously known as Caesyra heliophanes)
EULECHRIA GROUP
OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

Eulechria heliophanes
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

The Caterpillar of this species is expected to feed on dead leaves, as do others in this genus Eulechria, although different species in this genus seem each to prefer different host plants. The caterpillar probably lives in a tubular silk lined gallery, incorporating debris and frass, in amongst the dead leaves.

The caterpillar probably pupates in a larger and looser chamber at one end of the gallery.

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

The adult moth has yellow forewings each with a wide dark brown area at the margin, and another at the base extending along the costa. The hindwings are brown with yellow costas. The head is yellow. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

The species has been found in:

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Australian Capital Territory.

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. 361, 365.

Oswald B. Lower,
New Australian Heterocera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 18 (1894), p. 100.