Piloprepes gelidella (Walker, 1864)
(formerly known as Cryptolechia gelidella)
WINGIA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Piloprepes gelidella
(Photo: courtesy of Ian McMillan, Imbil, Queensland)

These Caterpillars are thought to feed on the green foliage of various trees in the family MYRTACEAE, including:

  • Eucalyptus, and
  • Lophostemon.

    The young caterpillar erects a tall narrow silk shelter covered in frass on top of a leaf. Later it cuts the leaf, and rolls part of it over to make a tubular shelter.

    The caterpillar pupates in its shelter.

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

    The adult moth of this species has patchy brown and white forewings. The hindwings are pale brown fading to white at the bases. The wingspan is about 2.5 cms.

    The species has been found in eastern Australia, including:

  • Western Australia,
  • Northern Territory,
  • Queensland, and
  • New South Wales.


    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 21.18, p. 223.

    Oecophorine Genera of Australia I:
    The Wingia Group (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)
    ,
    Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 3,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1994, p. 148.

    Francis Walker,
    Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
    List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
    Part 29 (1864), p. 766, No. 149.


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    (written 23 October 2014)