Oxycophina theorina (Meyrick, 1887)
(synonym : Siculodes fenestrata Pagenstecher, 1888)
RHODONEURINI,   SICULODINAE,   THYRIDIDAE,   THYRIDOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Oxycophina theorina
(Photo: courtesy of Rob Reed, Julatten, Queensland)

The Caterpillar of this species is a borer. It has been found in boreholes in

  • Parasol Tree (Macaranga tanarius, EUPHORBIACEAE).

    The caterpillars are missing three pairs of prolegs, and walk like loopers in the family GEOMETRIDAE. The caterpillars pupate in their boreholes.

    Oxycophina theorina
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The adult moths of this species are brownish orange, with several paler and darker bands across each wing. The hindwings have a variable number of indistinct white spots. The moths often fold or roll their wings, perhaps making them look more like a dead leaf than a moth. The wingspan is about 5 cms.

    Oxycophina theorina
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    The eggs are white and spherical, and laid in groups of about 5 in irregular rows on a foodplant.

    Oxycophina theorina
    eggs
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The species has been found in:

  • Papua New Guinea,

    and also in Australia in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    Oxycophina theorina
    showing underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 31.4, p. 341.

    M. De Baar,
    Life history notes on Bracca rotundata and Oxycophlna theorina,
    Australian Entomologist,
    Volume 35, Number 4 (2008), pp. 141-143.

    Edward Meyrick,
    On Pyralidina from Australia and the South Pacific,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1887, p. 200.

    Buck Richardson,
    Mothology,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2008, p. 39.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 208.

    Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
    A Guide to Australian Moths,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 126.


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    (updated 29 June 2013, 17 March 2026)