The caterpillar anchors its case at both ends to pupate. drawings by Robert Templeton, listed as Oiketicus tertius, Description of some species of the lepidopterous genus Oiketicus from Ceylon, Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, Plate V, figs. 3 & 5, image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

(Photo: courtesy of Thomas Sobczyk)

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

The wings of the male adult moth are a translucent dark grey, with forewings having two black central patches. The hindwings have nearly straight margins. The wingspan is about 4 cms.

drawing by Robert Templeton, listed as Oiketicus tertius,
Description of some species of the lepidopterous genus Oiketicus from Ceylon,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, Plate V, fig. 1,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

The species has been found across south-east Asia, including

as well as in Australia in

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

Further reading :

Oswald B. Lower,
Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Volume 24 (1899), p. 83.

Robert Templeton,
Description of some species of the lepidopterous genus Oiketicus from Ceylon,
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
Volume 5 (1847) p. 39, and also Plate 5, figs. 1-5.

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(written 24 January 2019, updated 23 July 2024)