Opogona omoscopa

Opogona omoscopa (Meyrick, 1893)
Detritus Moth
(one synonym : Hieroxestis praematura Meyrick, 1909)
HIEROXESTINAE, TINEIDAE, TINEOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

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

This Caterpillar has been found feeding in various types of decaying vegetation including

rotting wood,

compost,

Pineapple roots ( Ananas comosus, BROMELIACEAE ),

Cork ( Quercus suber, FAGACEAE ),

Gladiolus corms ( Gladiolus grandiflorus, IRIDACEAE ), and

Rhubarb ( Rheum rhabarbarum, POLYGONACEAE ).

(Photo: courtesy of Landcare Research Ltd., New Zealand)

The adult moth has fawn forewings, each with variable pale areas where the scales fall off very easily. The hindwings are off-white and shiny. The head has a tuft of brown hair. The moth has a wingspan of about 1.5 cms.

The species was originally found in New South Wales, but now has spread around the world, and has been found in

United States of America,

as well as in Australia in

Queensland,

New South Wales,

Australian Capital Territory,

Victoria,

Tasmania,

South Australia, and

Western Australia.

Further reading :

Peter B. McQuillan, Jan A. Forrest, David Keane, & Roger Grund,
Caterpillars, moths, and their plants of Southern Australia,
Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc., Adelaide (2019), p. 44.

Edward Meyrick,
Descriptions of Australian Micro-lepidoptera XVI: Tineidae,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 7, Part 4 (1891), p. 567, No. 139.

Gaden S. Robinson & Ebbe S. Nielsen,
Tineid Genera of Australia,
Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera Volume 2,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 1993, pp. ix-x, 10, 246-252, 263, 279.

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(updated 13 August 2011, 22 December 2025)