The caterpillars are pale green and grow to a length of about 0.5 cm. They feed inside young leaves, creating a mine or tunnel. The damaged part of the leaf turns brown. Young leaves can be mined completely, but in older leaves only the tip is damaged. The damaged leaves usually fall off leaving a bare branch.

cocoon under a leaf
(Photo: courtesy of Stepen Thorpe, Auckland, New Zealand)

The pupa is green and formed in a loose white silk cocoon amongst the the leaves of the host plant.

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

The forewings of the adult moth are white with some pale brown markings, and a black dot at each forewing tip. The hindwings are pale brown with long white fringes. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

This species recently invaded

but it originated from eastern Australia, where it is found in

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 215.

Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera III,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 5, Part 2 (1880), pp. 172-173.

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(updated 18 May 2004, 4 March 2017, 9 March 2019)