Ardozyga catarrhacta

Ardozyga catarrhacta (Meyrick, 1904)
(formerly known as Protolechia catarrhacta)
GELECHIIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

Ardozyga catarrhacta
(Photo: courtesy of Donna Tomkinson, Cooroy, Queensland)

This Caterpillar is brown, with rows of off-white marks along the body, except for the first two abdominal segments which are dark grey. The head is yellow with a white collar.

shelter opened to show caterpillar and silk joining threads
(Photo: courtesy of Donna Tomkinson, Cooroy, Queensland)

The caterpillar lives in a shelter composed of a pair of foodplant leaves joined with silk. The caterpillar has been found feeding on

Bloodwood ( Corymbia terminalis, MYRTACEAE ).

pupa
(Photo: courtesy of Donna Tomkinson, Cooroy, Queensland)

The pupa is brown and formed in the shelter.

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

The adult moths of this species have cream forewings each with dark brown markings including a wavy stripe along the hind margin. The hindwings are pale brown. There is sometimes a white patch on the head. The wingspan is about 1 cm.

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

The species has been found in Australia in

Northern Territory,

Queensland

New South Wales, and

Australian Capital Territory,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

Further reading :

Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera XVIII: Gelechiadae,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 29 (1900), p. 366, No. 170.

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(written 12 January 2017, updated 17 October 2018, 27 April 2019, 12 October 2020, 3 July 2021)