Faveria tritalis

Faveria tritalis (Walker, 1863)
Couchgrass Webworm
(previously : Hypochalcia tritalis)
PHYCITINAE, PYRALIDAE, PYRALOIDEA

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

Faveria tritalis
(Photo: courtesy of Christine Darwood, Chifley, Australian Capital Territory)

The caterpillar of this species lives in a silk shelter incorporating leaves of its foodplant. The caterpillar feeds on various grasses (POACEAE), including:

Couch Grass ( Cynodon dactylon ).

(Photo: courtesy of Michael Bedingfield, Conder, Australian Capital Territory)

The moth has forewings each with a faint fawn pattern, dark wingtips, and often including a central dark-edged pale streak containing two dark elliptical dots. The hindwings are plain grey. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

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

The species has been found in:

Northern Territory,

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

(Photo: courtesy of Daniel Montes, McKellar, Australian Capital Territory)

The eggs are oval and white, with a diameter of about 1 mm. They are laid in untidy clusters.

Further reading :

Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 80.

Francis Walker,
Crambites & Tortricites,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 27 (1863), pp. 47-48, No. 21.

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(updated 24 June 2010, 11 November 2017, 13 October 2020, 19 March 2021, 20 February 2022)