(formerly known as Orthaga orchidivora) EPIPASCHIINAE, PYRALIDAE, PYRALOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Dick Whitford, Mt Molloy, Queensland)
The caterpillars live in long scalloped shelter covered in frass, suspended in the plant it is feeding on. The shelter can reach lengths of 5 cms. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 cms.
The caterpillars have been found eating
The caterpillars leave their shelter, and pupate in an oval silk cocoon under the soil. The cocoon has a length of about 1.7 cms.
The adult moth has a complex pattern of green and shades of brown on the forewings, including dark areas at the wingtips and tornuses. The green appears to fade in old dead specimens. The hindwings are pale brown, darkening toward the margins. The wingspan is about 2 cms.
The species is found in :
Further reading :
Buck Richardson,
Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 187.
A. Jefferis Turner,
A preliminary revision of the Australian Thyrididae and Pyralidae, Part I,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 18 (1904), p. 199.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(written 22 May 2016, updated6 April 2019, 7 September 2020)