Xylorycta melaleucae Turner, 1898
 XYLORYCTIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of Nick Lambert, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales)

These caterpillars have been found boring into the stems of

  • Black Tea Tree (Melaleuca bracteata, MYRTACEAE ).

    The adult moths have patchy pale brown forewings, each with a scattering of dark grey specks and spots, a white stripe along the basal part of the costa, and a vague pale submarginal arc. The hindwings are a shiny pale brown, darkening at the wingtips. The wingspan is about 2 cms.


    (Photo: courtesy of Nick Lambert, Coffs Harbour, New South Wales)

    The species is found in :

  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


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

    Further reading :

    Ian McMillan,
    Xylorycta melaleuca,
    Xyloryctine Moths of Australia,
    Blog, Wednesday, June 30, 2010.

    A. Jefferis Turner,
    The Xyloryctidae of Queensland,
    Annals of the Queensland Museum,
    Volume 4 (1898), p. 14, No. 30.

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    (written 06 December 2019)