Eulechria triferella

Eulechria triferella (Walker, 1864)
(previously known as Oecophora triferella)
EULECHRIA GROUP
OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

Eulechria triferella
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Blackheath, New South Wales)

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 dark brown forewings each with one wide and one broad white band, and a white patch at the margin. The hindwings are pale brown, shading darker at the wingtips. The head is white.

The species has been found in:

Queensland, and

New South Wales.

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. 359, 369.

Francis Walker,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Volume 29, 1864, p. 684.