Piestoceros conjunctella (Walker, 1863) (formerly known as Incurvaria conjunctella) PSYCHIDAE,   TINEOIDEA

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

(Photo: courtesy of Michelle Colpus)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a portable case covered in spiral twisted leaves.

close-up of head and thorax
(Photo: courtesy of Michelle Colpus)

The head and throax are pale brown with dark speckles. The case grows to a length of about 2 cm.

(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The caterpillar pupates in its case. For pupation, the case is hung by a thick silk thread with a length of about 2 cms. The thread is attached to the underside of anything convenient such as a leaf or tree trunk.

(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The adult moths of this species has brown forewings with dark markings including a pale edged wavy dark line across the middle. The hindwings are yellow with brown wingtips. The wingspan is about 1 cm.

(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

The species has been found in:

New South Wales.

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

Drawing by Edward Meyrick
Genera Insectorum, Fascicules 164 (1912), Pl. 2, No. 19.,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library,
digitized by University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Library.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Tony Eales, Upper Caboolture, Queensland)

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Further reading :

Edward Meyrick,
Genera Insectorum,
Fascicules 164 (1912), Pl. 2, No. 19.

Francis Walker,
Tortricites & Tineites,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 28 (1863), p. 491, No. 16.

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(written 12 December 2022, updated 25 July 2024)