Ocrasa albidalis Walker, 1866
(previously : Spilodes rhodocryptalis)
PYRALINAE,   PYRALIDAE,   PYRALOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Ocrasa albidalis
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

These caterpillars are dark brown. They feed on:

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    These caterpillars are communal, skeletonising dead leaves, and living in a silk shelter covered in frass composed of dead foliage.

    Ocrasa albidalis
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The adult moths have forewings that are pale brown or green, with faint curved lines across them. The hindwings are an even paler brown with faint lines across them. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    Ocrasa albidalis
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The species has been found in Australia in :

  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Ocrasa albidalis
    side view
    (Photo: courtesy of Bronwyn King, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 31.18, p. 349.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 34, Supplement 4 (1866), p. 1212.


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    (updated 4 August 2012, 26 August 2020, 14 April 2021)