Piestoceros conjunctella (Walker, 1863)
(formerly known as Incurvaria conjunctella)
PSYCHIDAE,   TINEOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Piestoceros conjunctella
(Photo: courtesy of Michelle Colpus)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a portable case covered in spiral twisted leaves.

Piestoceros conjunctella
close-up of head and thorax
(Photo: courtesy of Michelle Colpus)

The head and throax are pale brown with dark speckles. The case grows to a length of about 2 cm.

Piestoceros conjunctella
(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The caterpillar pupates in its case. For pupation, the case is hung by a thick silk thread with a length of about 2 cms. The thread is attached to the underside of anything convenient such as a leaf or tree trunk.

Piestoceros conjunctella
(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species has brown forewings with dark markings including a pale edged wavy dark line across the middle. The hindwings are yellow with brown wingtips. The wingspan is about 1 cm.

Piestoceros conjunctella
(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The species has been found in:

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

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

    Piestoceros conjunctella
    Drawing by Edward Meyrick
    Genera Insectorum, Fascicules 164 (1912), Pl. 2, No. 19.,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library,
    digitized by University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Library.

    Piestoceros conjunctella
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Edward Meyrick,
    Genera Insectorum,
    Fascicules 164 (1912), Pl. 2, No. 19.

    Francis Walker,
    Tortricites & Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 28 (1863), p. 491, No. 16.


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    (written 12 December 2022)