Strepsicrates macropetana (Meyrick, 1881)
Eucalyptus Leafroller
(possible synonym: Spilonota brachytycha Turner, 1946)
EUCOSMINI,   OLETHREUTINAE,   TORTRICIDAE,   TORTRICOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Strepsicrates macropetana
(Photo: courtesy of Paul Whittington, Wonboyn, New South Wales)

The Caterpillar of this species is green with a brown head and collar. The tail segment has a dark U-shaped mark. Each segment has four small white dorsal warts. The caterpillars feed on:

  • Gum Leaves ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ),

    and so are a pest in Eucalyptus plantations .

    The caterpillars feed on the surface of leaves, and live in a shelter of curled leaves held together with silk. The caterpillars become darker as they mature, and turn pink in their last instar.

    Strepsicrates macropetana
    pupae: female above, male below
    (Photo: courtesy of N. Mauchline, T.W. Withers, and M.J. Nuttall, SCION, New Zealand Farm Forestry Association)

    They pupate under bark or in a curled leaf or in ground debris. The female pupa appears to have one less abdominal segment than the male.

    Strepsicrates macropetana
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

    The adult moth has brown stippled forewings. The female sometimes has a broad pale wavy area along the hind margin of each forewing. The male sometimes has a broad pale wavy area along the costa of each forewing. The hindwings are pale brown with dark veins. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

    The species has been found in:

  • New Zealand,

    as well as in Australia in

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


    Further reading :

    Marianne Horak and Furumi Komai,
    Olethreutine Moths of Australia: (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Series, Volume 10,
    CSIRO Publishing, 2006.

    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. 65.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera VI: Tortricina,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 1, Volume 6, Part 3 (1881), p. 683, No. 3.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 2 June 2011, 16 October 2015, 23 June 2019, 15 August 2020, 21 April 2022)