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 ).

    Faveria tritalis
    (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.

    Faveria tritalis
    (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.

    Faveria tritalis
    (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)