Cyclotorna egena

Cyclotorna egena Meyrick, 1912
CYCLOTORNIDAE, ZYGAENOIDEA

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

Cyclotorna egena
early larva, black and white line drawing by H. Knight,
in Dodds & Meyrick: 'Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland',
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1911, Plate XLVIII, fig. 16,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

Caterpillars in this family are unusual in that they superficially resemble Woodlice ( ONISCIDEA ). They feed on the dried sugary masses created by

Leaf Hoppers ( PSYLLIDAE )

cocoon with partly extruded pupal skin, black and white line drawing by H. Knight,
in Dodds & Meyrick: 'Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland',
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1911, Plate XLVIII, fig 17,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

The caterpillars form a cocoon on the branch of the tree where they were feeding.

(Photo: courtesy of Geoffrey Cox , Greater Adelaide, South Australia)

Adult moths have grey-brown forewings, each with a dark marginal half containg a vague dark mark. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

The species has been found in Australia in

Western Australia,

Northern Territory

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

South Australia.

Further reading :

Edward Meyrick,
Supplement to F.P. Dodds' Some remarkable ant-friend Lepidoptera of Queensland,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
1911, pp. 589-590 and also Plate 48, figs. 16 & 17.

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(written 2 April 2017, updated 27 December 2022)