Stathmopoda auriferella (Walker, 1864)
(one synonym is Stathmopoda crocophanes Meyrick, 1897)
STATHMOPODINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Wendy Moore, Melbourne, Victoria)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a loose silk shelter on their foodplant. The caterpillars are a minor pest on

  • Kiwi Fruit ( Actinidia chinensis, ASTERACEAE ),
  • Mangos ( Mangifera indica,, ANACARDIACEAE ), and
  • Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor, POACEAE ).

    but have been found feeding on many other plants, living and dead, from a variety of plant families, including:

  • ASTERACEAE,
  • FABACEAE,
  • MYRTACEAE,
  • RHAMNACEAE, and
  • RUTACEAE.


    Drawing by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham, listed as Stathmopoda divisa

    African Micro-Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1891, Plate 6, fig. 61,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    The adult moth of this species is yellow with a broad dark brown margin, and an irregular broad dark brown transverse band on each forewing. The hindwings are dark brown with yellow tips. The hind margin of each wing has a hairy fringe wider than the wing itself. The moth has a wingspan of about 1 cm.


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

    The species is found over much of Australia, including

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


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 226.

    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. 54.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. XVII. Elachistidae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 22, Part 2 (1897), pp. 324-325.

    Francis Walker,
    Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 30 (1864), p. 1022, No. 1.

    Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham,
    African Micro-Lepidoptera,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1891, pp. 121-122, and also Plate 6, fig. 61.


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    (updated 1 November 2012, 10 January 2015, 20 January 2016)