Callimima lophoptera (Lower, 1894)
(previously known as Piloprepes lophoptera)
WINGIA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Callimima lophoptera
(Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, Kuranda, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species live communally in a shelter constructed from live leaves of the foodplant joined by silk and decorated with frass. The caterpillars have been found feeding on the foliage of

  • Hairy-leaved Bolly Gum, ( Neolitsea dealbata, LAURACEAE ) and possibly
  • Brush Cherry ( Syzygium australe, MYRTACEAE ).

    The silk cocoon is formed inside a rolled piece of leaf, and attached to stick out at right angles to a branch.

    Callimima lophoptera
    Photo: courtesy of Buck Richardson, from
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art

    The forewings of the adult moth are white with shadowy patches, and each has a dark brown area at the base. The hindwings are plain off-white. The thorax and head are white. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

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

    The species has been found in

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, pls. 4.24, 23.15, pp. 223, 487.

    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, 29, 148, 217, 221-224.

    Oswald B. Lower,
    New Australian Heterocera,
    Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
    Volume 18 (1894), p. 96.

    Graham McDonald,
    Weird and Wonderful Moths,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 78 (September 2015), pp. 11-15, fig. 6,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

    Buck Richardson,
    Tropical Queensland Wildlife from Dusk to Dawn Science and Art,
    LeapFrogOz, Kuranda, 2015, p. 181.


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    (updated 1 November 2012, 10 January 2015, 25 July 2019)