Philobota diaereta

Philobota diaereta (Turner, 1917)
PHILOBOTA GROUP
OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

Philobota diaereta
(Photo: courtesy of Carolyn, Wandiyali-Environa Conservation Area, Australian Capital Territory)

The caterpillars of this species are a minor pest, having been found feeding on the young shoots of

Wheat ( Triticum aestivum, POACEAE ).

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

The adult moths have off-white forewings, each having a brown stripe along the middle, and a narrow brown sripe along the costa near the base. The hindwings are off-white, shading to pale brown along the costas. The male moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms. The female moths have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.

The species has been found in Australia in:

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Australian Capital Territory.

This species belongs to the Philobota hydara Group.

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. 267, 269.

A. Jefferis Turner,
Studies in Australian Lepidoptera,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 41 (1917), p. 89.