Stathmopoda crocophanes Meyrick, 1897
 (one synonym is Stathmopoda crocophanes Lower, 1897)
STATHMOPODINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Stathmopoda crocophanes
(Photo: courtesy of Katarina Christenson, Melba, Australian Capital Territory)

The Caterpillars of this species are thought to live in a loose silk shelter on their foodplant. The caterpillars are a minor pest on

  • Kiwi Fruit ( Actinidia chinensis, ASTERACEAE ),
  • Mangos ( Mangifera indica,, ANACARDIACEAE ), and
  • Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor, POACEAE ).

    but have been found feeding on many other plants, living and dead, from a variety of plant families, including:

  • ASTERACEAE,
  • FABACEAE,
  • MYRTACEAE,
  • RHAMNACEAE, and
  • RUTACEAE.

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

    The adult moth of this species is yellow with a broad dark brown margin, and an irregular broad dark brown transverse band on each forewing. The hindwings are dark brown with yellow tips. The hind margin of each wing has a hairy fringe wider than the wing itself. The moth has a wingspan of about 1 cm.

    Stathmopoda crocophanes
    Drawing by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham, listed as Stathmopoda divisa
    African Micro-Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Entomological Society of London, 1891, Plate 6, fig. 61,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Ernst Mayr Library, Harvard University.

    The species is found over much of Australia, including

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    A recent study has suggested that Stathmopoda crocophanes Meyrick, 1897 and Stathmopoda divisa Walsingham, 1891 are junior synonyms of Stathmopoda auriferella Walker, 1864.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, p. 226.

    Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
    Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
    Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 54.
    (listed as Stathmopoda auriferella)

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. XVII. Elachistidae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 22, Part 2 (1897), pp. 324-325.

    Kyu-Tek Park, Soowon Cho, Solmoon Na, Young-Min Shin, & Sora Kim,
    Genus Stathmopoda Herrich-Shäffer (Lepidoptera, stathmopodinae) from the Korean Peninsula with two new species,
    Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity,
    Volume 11, Issue 2 (2018), pp. 259-266

    Francis Walker,
    Tineites,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 30 (1864), p. 1022, No. 1.

    Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham,
    African Micro-Lepidoptera,
    Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
    1891, pp. 121-122, and also Plate 6, fig. 61.

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    (updated 1 November 2012, 10 January 2015, 20 January 2016, 7 July 2021)