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 spots: one near the base on the hind margin, and another near the tornus. 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 occurs in

  • British Isles,
  • Costa Rica,
  • Portugal,
  • Hawaii,
  • New Zealand,
  • Sweden,
  • 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, 23 March 2019, 21 November 2020)