Homona mermerodes Meyrick, 1910
(one synonym : Capua myopolia Turner, 1945)
ARCHIPINI,   TORTRICINAE,   TORTRICIDAE
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Homona mermerodes
(Photo: courtesy of the Bishop Museum, Hawaii)

This Caterpillar is off-white and translucent, with a a dark brown or black head and sparse stiff pale hairs, particularly on the last segment.

Homona mermerodes
(Photo: courtesy of David Rentz, Kuranda, Queensland)

This caterpillar was found feeding on various Orchids, (ORCHIDACEAE), including

  • Bulbophyllum Wilbur Chang, and
  • Oncidium species.

    but is known to feed on plants from many other families.

    Homona mermerodes
    (Photo: courtesy of David Rentz, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The caterpillar grows to a length of about 1.5 cms.

    Homona mermerodes
    empty pupal skin
    (Photo: courtesy of David Rentz, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The pupa is brown, with a curved abdomen.

    Homona mermerodes
    male
    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The adult male moth has blotchy pale brown forewings, each with dark markings, particularly along the costa, and around the margin, and including an angular patch near the middle. The hindwings are plain pale brown. The wingspan of the male is about 2.5 cms.

    Homona mermerodes
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of David Rentz, Kuranda, Queensland)

    The female also has brown wings, but each forewing has dark markings only along the costa and around the margin. The forewings of the female have an extraordinary shape: each with a bulge on the costa near the base, a rounded wingtip, and a recurved margin. The wingspan of the female is about 3 cms.

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

    The species occurs in :

  • New Guinea,

    and in Australia in

  • Queensland.

    Homona mermerodes
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of David Rentz, Kuranda, Queensland)


    Further reading:

    Jiri Hulcr, Scott E. Miller, Gregory P. Setliff, Karolyn Darrow, Nathaniel D. Mueller, Paul D. N. Hebert, and George D. Weiblen,
    DNA barcoding confirms polyphagy in a generalist moth, Homona mermerodes (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae),
    Molecular Ecology Notes,
    Volume 7, Issue 4 (July 2007), pages 549–557.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Revision of Australian Tortricina,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 35 (1910), p. 213-214, No. 143.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 213.


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    (updated 24 July 2011, 9 July 2019, 23 January 2020)