Thema argoptera (Meyrick, 1884) (previously known as Pleurota argoptera) CHEZALA GOUP OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA

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

(Photo: courtesy of Nick Monaghan, Powelltown, Victoria)

The Caterpillars of species in this genus feed on dead leaves in the leaf litter on the ground under trees.

The forewings of the adult moth of this species are cream coloured, with a row of brown spots along the margin, and three separate brown spots in the middle of each forewing. The hindwings are also cream coloured, with pale brown veins. The wingspan is about 1 cm.

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

The species has been found in

Victoria.

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Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Oecophorine Genera of Australia II: The Chezala, Philobota and Eulechria groups (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 5,
CSIRO Publishing, 1997, p. 177.

Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. XI. Oecophoriidae,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 9, Part 3 (1884), p. 758.

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(written 27 June 2013, updated 25 October 2018)