| ETHMIIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Carol &
Trevor Deane,
Dorrigo, New South Wales)
|
| ETHMIIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of
Carol &
Trevor Deane,
Dorrigo, New South Wales)
The Caterpillars of this species are black with a pattern of off-white markings, including two rather interrupted off-white lines along each side. The prothorax is off-white with a prominent pair of short black stripes. The head is pale brown with a black and white frons. The caterpillars spin a very loose web around the area where they are feeding and typically rest along the underside of a stem of the foodplant.
They have been found feeding on the foliage of
The caterpillars grow to a length of about 3 cms. They pupate in a loose web in a sheltered spot away from the foodplant.
The adult moths have white wings, with a pattern of black dots on the forewings, and an area of grey on the hindwings. They have a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The species may be found over most of eastern Australia, including:
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, Pl. 24.7, Fig. 24.15, p. 248.
Peter Hendry,
Mt Glorious- Saturday 28th November 2009,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 56 (March 2010), pp. 32-33.
J.A. Powell,
Taxonomy and geographical relationships of Australian Ethmiid moths (Lepidoptera : Gelechioidea),
Australian Journal of Zoology,
Supplementary Series 33, 1985, Volume 112, pp. 1-58.
A. Jefferis Turner,
A preliminary revision of the Australian Thyrididae and Pyralidae. Part I,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 29 (1917), pp. 89-90.
Paul Zborowski and Ted Edwards,
A Guide to Australian Moths,
CSIRO Publishing, 2007, p. 82.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 16 January 2013, 31 January 2026)