Acanthodela protophaes (Meyrick, 1883)
 (previously known as Euchroa protophaes)
WINGIA GROUP,   OECOPHORINAE,   OECOPHORIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Acanthodela protophaes
(Photo: courtesy of Donald Hobern, Aranda, Australian Capital Territory)

This Caterpillar is off-white. It feeds on damp dead leaves of

  • Gum Trees ( MYRTACEAE ).

    The caterpillar joins the leaves together with silk to make a shelter in which it lives. If threatened, the caterillar curls into a 'C' shape. The caterpillar pupates in its shelter.

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

    The adult moth has brown forewings. The wingspan is about 2 cms.

    The species has been found in:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania,
  • South Australia, and
  • Western 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. 24, 26, 252-256, 258.

    Edward Meyrick,
    Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera VIII Oecophoridae,
    Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
    Volume 7, Part 4 (1883), pp. 457-458.

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    (updated 1 November 2012, 10 January 2015, 25 July 2019, 3 November 2020)