Striglina scitaria

Striglina scitaria (Walker, 1862)
Daincha Leaf Webber
(formerly known as Drepanodes scitaria)
STRIGLININAE, THYRIDIDAE, THYRIDOIDEA

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

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

The Caterpillars of this species live in a shelter consisting of a rolled leaflets of its foodplant. The caterpillars have been found feeding on

Fleshy Ragweed ( Kleinia grandiflora, ASTERACEAE ),

Buttercup Bush ( Senna corymbosa, CAESALPINIACEAE ),

Rangoon Creeper ( Combretum indicmu, COMBRETACEAE ), and

Daincha ( Sesbania bispinosa, FABACEAE ).

The adult moths are orange with a faint intricate dark tracery on, and a dark line across, each wing. The forewings each have several dark spots along the costa. The hindwings each have a slightly pointed tornus. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

drawing by Pieter C. T. Snellen, listed as Homodes thermesioides,
Heterocera op Java, Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
Volume 20 (1877), Plate 2, fig. 15a,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.

The species has been found as various subspecies across south-east Asia and the south-west Pacific, including

and Australia in

Western Australia, and

Northern Territory.

undersides of wings, drawing by Pieter C. T. Snellen, listed as Homodes thermesioides,
Heterocera op Java, Tijdschrift voor Entomologie,
Volume 20 (1877), Plate 2, fig. 15a,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Smithsonian Libraries.