Macrenches clerica (Rosenstock, 1885)
 (previously known as Gelechia clerica)
GELECHIINAE,   GELECHIIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

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

The caterpillars of this species live in a silk shelter covered in frass and detritus. The caterpillers have been found feeding on:

  • Heath Wattle ( Acacia brownii, MIMOSACEAE ).

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

    The adult moths have off-white forewings each with a broad black stripe. The hindwings are white. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been reported in Australia in:

  • Western Australia,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 25.17, p. 260.

    Rudolph Rosenstock,
    Notes on Australian Lepidoptera, with descriptions of new species,
    Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
    Volume 5, Part 16 (1885), pp. 438-439, No. 807.

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    (updated 1 June 2011)