The caterpillars bore into young shoots. This damages leaf and seed production by the weed, but does not completely eradicate it. More than 10 other species of insect have also been introduced in an attempt to control the weed.

The caterpillars also attack other plants from the Mimosa family ( MIMOSACEAE), including :

Unfortunately, this last one is an important crop in some Asian countries.

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

The adult moth has dark brown forewings, each with a white stripe along the hind margin, and white markings around a dark spot on the margin. The hindwings are pale brown. The antennae are longer than the wings. The rest position of the moth is typically with the wings folded around the body, and the antennae held along the body, with the tips splayed out, looking as though the head is the wrong end. The wingspan is about 1 cm.

The species is endemic in

and now by its introduction has been found in Australia in

Further reading :

August Busck,
Tineid moths from southern Texas, with descriptions of new species,
Proceedings of the United States National Museum,
Volume 30 (1906), pp. 731-732.

D.R. Davis, R.C. Kassulke, K.L.S. Harley, & J.D. Gillett,
Systematics, morphology, biology, and host specificity in Neuriostrota gunniella (Busck) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae), an agent for the biological control of Mimosa pigra. L.,
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington,
Volume 93 (1991), pp. 16-44.

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(updated 14 December 2009, 8 December 2024)