(previously : Spilodes rhodocryptalis)
PYRALINAE , PYRALIDAE , PYRALOIDEA
(Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville)
These caterpillars are dark brown. They feed on:
These caterpillars are communal, skeletonising dead leaves, and living in a silk shelter covered in frass composed of dead foliage.
The adult moths have forewings that are pale brown with faint lines across them. The hindwings are an even paler brown with faint lines across them. The moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The species has been found in Australia in :
Further reading :
Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 31.18, p. 349.
Catalogue of Lepidoptera Heterocera,
List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum,
Part 34, Supplement 4 (1866), p. 1212.
(updated 4 August 2012)