Garrha mitescens

Garrha mitescens (Meyrick, 1914)
(previously known as Machimia mitescens)
WINGIA GROUP, OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Garrha mitescens
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species are thought to construct a case from two oval pieces of dead foodplant leaf joined with silk, one piece larger than the other. The caterpillars probably feed on dead leaves of:

Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

The caterpillars probably pupate in their case.

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

The adult moth has brown forewings with variable vague dark spots and zigzag lines. The hindwings are pale brown darkening toward the margins. The antennae are noticeably banded. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

The species has been found in north-eastern Australia, including

Northern Territory, and

Queensland.

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, p. 301.

Edward Meyrick,
Exotic Microlepidoptera,
Volume 1, Part 6 (1914), pp. 174-175.