When the bark peels away in later years, it reveals the zig-zag tracks made by the caterpillar as it fed.

The caterpillars grow to a length of about 2 mm. Pupation probably occurs between the layers of bark or amongst detritus on the ground.

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

The adult moth is white speckled with brown, and has long dense hairs along the hind margin of each wing., with a wingspan of about 1 cm.

The species occurs in:

The original species has since been found to be a group of moth species, some specialising on different Eucalyptus species.

Further reading :

Julia Cooke & Ted Edwards,
The behaviour of scribbly gum moth larvae Ogmograptis sp. Meyrick (Lepidoptera: Bucculatricidae) in the Australian Capital Territory,
Australian Journal of Entomology,
Volume 46, Issue 4 (November 2007), pp. 269–275.

M. Horak, M. F. Day, C. Barlow, E. D. Edwards, Y. N. Su and S. L. Cameron,
Systematics and biology of the iconic Australian scribbly gum moths Ogmograptis Meyrick (Lepidoptera : Bucculatricidae) and their unique insect–plant interaction,
Invertebrate Systematics,
Volume 26, Part 4 (2012) pp. 357-398.

Edward Meyrick,
Exotic Microlepidoptera,
Volume 4, Parts 18-19 (1935), pp. 600-601.

Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, pp. 1, 57.

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(updated 21 May 2013, 3 November 2023)