Hemibela hemicalypta (Meyrick, 1885)
(previously known as Ocystola callista)
WINGIA GROUP
OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Hemibela hemicalypta
(Photo: courtesy of Ken Harris, Genoa Falls, Victoria)

The Caterpillars of this species live in a hollowed out twig which they carry around. The caterpillars probably feed on various species of

  • Gum Trees ( Eucalyptus species, MYRTACEAE ).

    Hemibela hemicalypta
    hollowed twig showing end sealed with silk
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

    The caterpillars pupate in their twig, anchoring it to a branch or convenient object.

    Hemibela hemicalypta
    hollowed twig showing empty pupal case after the adult moth has emerged
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)

    The adult moths have a yellow head, a brown thorax, and forewings that have a yellow basal half, a brown marginal half, and a brown streak along the basal half of the costa. The hindwings are plain dark brown. The wingspan is about 1.5 cms.

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

    The species has been found in :

  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western Australia.

    Hemibela hemicalypta
    moth underside
    (Photo: copyright of Brett and Marie Smith at Ellura Sanctuary, South Australia)


    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, pp. 323-325, 327, 328.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera XII Oecophoridae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Series 1, Volume 9, Number 4 (1885), pp. 1060, 1061. No. 362.


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    (written 23 January 2015, updated 23 September 2024)