(formerly known as Hoplitica costimacula) WINGIA GROUP, OECOPHORINAE, OECOPHORIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of the Photography Group,
Centre for Biodiversity Genomics,
University of Guelph)
The Caterpillars of this species are thought to live on the ground feeding on dead leaves of various species of MYRTACEAE. The caterpillars live and eventually pupate in a case constructed from pieces of dead leaves joined with silk.
The adult moth has pale rusty brown forewings each with a variable pattern of dark brown markings which extend to form some dark spots on the costa. The hindwings are off-white darkening toward the margins. The antennae are noticeably banded. The wingspan is about 2 cms.
The species has been found in Australia in :
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Oecophorine Genera of Australia I:
The Wingia Group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae),
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 3,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1994, p. 300.
Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera VIII: Oecophoridae,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 1, Volume 7, Part 4 (1883), pp. 494, 502-504, No. 64.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(written 26 January 2021)