Undetermined PSYCHIDAE AG Left-handed Pyramid Case Moth PSYCHIDAE,   TINEOIDEA

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

(Photo: courtesy of Maria Rosenfelder, Sunshine Coast Hinterland, Queensland)

This Caterpillar initially attaches four sticks in a square around its case, all of the same length, and attaches them at right angles to the axis of the case. As the caterpillar grows when sufficiently longer, it attaches a new set similarly arranged to the old set, except that they are slightly longer, so that the the new part of the case is bigger, and twisted slightly about 7 degrees anticlockwise (viewed from the small end) to the previous set.

(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The caterpillar does this perhaps a dozen times as it grows, giving the pyramid a left-handed corkscrew appearance. The case can grow to a length of up to 3 cms.

(Photo: courtesy of Neil Hewett, Cooper Creek Wilderness, Queensland)

The species is thought to have been found in

Queensland.

The caterpillar of Cryptothelea (Oiketicus) dewitzi may also create this sort of case, or this may the same species as Pyramid Case Moth with the caterpillars adding a left twist to each layer, or Right-Handed Pyramid Case Moth, with the caterpillars having dislexia, and twisting each layer the wrong way, or a tidy left handed variant of Haphazard Pyramid Case Moth.

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(updated 22 April 2011, 22 July 2024)