Picrostomastis subrosealis (Leech, 1889)
 (one synonym: Betousa penestica West, 1932)
SICULODINAE,   THYRIDIDAE,   THYRIDOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

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

This caterpillar is brownish-green, with a pale brown head, and several warts on each segment bearing sparse hairs. It has a narrow pale line along each side, along the spiracles which are black. The caterpillar was found feeding on

  • Umbrella Cheese Tree ( Glochidion zeylanicum, PHYLLANTHACEAE ).

    The adult moths are orange speckled with indistinct little wavy dark lines on every wing. On each forewing, there are several small dark grey markings, including several on the costa, and one near the margin. On each hindwing, there is a dark grey band from costa to the middle of the hind-margin. The forewing tips are recurved, and all four wings have sinuous margins. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been found in

  • Bangladesh,
  • Borneo,
  • Hong Kong,
  • India,
  • Philippines,
  • Thailand,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.

    Further reading :

    John Henry Leech,
    New species of Deltoids and Pyrales from Corea, North China and Japan,
    The Entomologist,
    Volume 22 (1889), p. 66, and also Plate 4, fig. 14.

    R.J. West,
    Some new species of Thyrididae.,
    Novitates Zoologicae,
    Volume 38 (1932), p. 7, No. 2.

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    (written 28 April 2019, updated 5 September 2020)