Hemibela pyrochrysa (Meyrick, 1889)
 (previously known as Ocystola pyrochrysa)
WINGIA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hemibela pyrochrysa
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a hollowed out twig which they carry around. The caterpillars feed on various species of

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillars pupate in their twig, anchoring it onto a branch or some other object.

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

    The adult moths have yellow forewings each with dark purple areas at the base and at the margin. The hindwings are pale yellow with dark brown margins. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been found in :

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.

    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. 327, 329.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. XV. Oecophoridae (continued),
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 2, Volume 3 (1889), p. 1663.

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    (written 21 October 2014, updated 10 January 2015, 27 July 2019)