Orthaga thyrisalis (Walker, 1858)
(one synonym: Catamola thyrisalis)
Teatree Web Moth
 EPIPASCHIINAE ,   PYRALIDAE

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


(Photo: courtesy of Merlin Crossley)

This Caterpillar lives with others of its kind in a communal shelter made of dead leaves and silk webbing. Its body is fawn, with a broad pale green band along the back, which is bisected by a grey line. Its head is dark brown. It is a garden pest, attacking various plants in the family MYRTACEAE such as:

  • Teatree ( Leptospermum species),
  • Geraldton Waxflower ( Chamelaucium uncinatum ), and
  • Paperbark ( Melaleuca species).

    It pupates within its shelter, and the adult emerges about four weeks later

    The adult has a black head with bulging eyes, and labial palps that project like a beak. The forewings are brown, with a light brown central area, and darker areas at the tip and the base. Each hindwing is brown, fading to pale brown at the base. The wing margins are checquered with light and dark brown.


    (Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

    The species occurs over the southern half of Australia: including

  • Tasmania,
  • Western Australia,
  • South Australia,
  • New South Wales, and
  • Queensland.

    Further reading :

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press, 1990, pp. 67, 348.

    Pat and Mike Coupar,
    Flying Colours, New South Wales University Press, Sydney 1992, p. 83.

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    (updated 13 March 2011)