Heteroteucha dichroella (Zeller, 1877)
 (previously known as Coesyra dichroella)
WINGIA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


The small smooth Caterpillars of this species live together in a shelter made of leaves of its foodplant joined together with silk. They are fawn, with a brown head, pale narrow bands between segments, and a stiff bristle on each side of each segment. They feed on the leaves of:

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus, MYRTACEAE ).


    typical shelter, with newly emerged adult moth
    (Photo: Don Herbison-Evans, Sydney, New South Wales)

    They grow to a length of about 1.5 cms. Pupation occurs within this web of leaves.


    The adult moths are small, reaching only a span of 1.5 cms. They have striking yellow forewings with brown wingtips. The hindwings are brown. The head is yellow and the thorax brown.


    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species is found in:

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

    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. 24, 119, 121.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 182.

    Philipp C. Zeller,
    Exotische Microlepidopteren,
    Horae Societatis entomologicae vossicae, variis semonibus in Russia usitatis editae,
    Volume 13 (1877), pp. 389-390.

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    (updated 17 May 2011, 5 December 2017, 10 November 2020, 27 April 2022)