Zonopetala decisana (Walker, 1863)
(one synonym : Conchylis ustella Walker, 1864)
WINGIA GROUP,
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Zonopetala decisana
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Blackheath, New South Wales)

This caterpillar appears to feed on :

  • dead wood, and
  • Lichen.

    It carries around a protective case of composed of two plates of silk covered in bits of wood.

    The adult moth of this species has a black collar around the head, and white forewings with ragged black bands across them. The hindwings are cream shading to brown at the wingtips. The moth has a wingspan of about 1.5 cms.

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

    The species is found in the eastern half of Australia, including:

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


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Oecophorine Genera of Australia I: The Wingia Group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 3,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1994, pp. 29, 139, 142.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 28 (1863), p. 367-368.


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    (created 16 October 2002, updated 29 May 2014, 5 July 2021)