Garrha pudica

Garrha pudica (Zeller, 1855)
(previously known as Cryptolechia pudica)
WINGIA GROUP, OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

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

Garrha pudica
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species construct a case from two oval pieces of dead foodplant leaf joined with silk, one piece larger than the other. The caterpillars have been found feeding in ground debris on dead leaves of:

Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

The caterpillars pupate in their case.

(Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith, at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

The adult moth has pale brown wings, with one v ariable large, and two small dark spots, near the middle of each forewing. The hindwings are a silky pale brown. The antennae are noticeably banded. It has a wingspan of about 1.5 cms.

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

The species has been observed in:

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, Pl. 4.9, p. 222.

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. 21, 24-26, 295, 298, 301, Figs. 556, 562, 563.

Philipp Christoph Zeller,
Nachtrag zu den im 9ten Bande beschriebenen Arten des Genus Cryptolechia,
Linnaea Entomologica (Linn. Ent., Berlin),
Volume 10 (1855), pp. 152-153.

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(updated 12 March 2011, 27 July 2019, 27 January 2021)