Rusty Wingia Moth
Ventral
Gall Wingia Moth
Male, pink highlights
| Rusty Wingia Moth Ventral | | Gall Wingia Moth Male, pink highlights | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Wingia Moth (:Gelechioidea Oecophoridae Wingia) | ||||
| Species: | Gall Wingia Moth (Euchaetis metallota) | ||||
| This Photo: | Male, dorsal | ||||
General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere Head & body ~7.5mm, wingspan ~20mm; quite small compared to the 25mm stated elsewhere, but sizes can vary significantly with moths. Caterpillars of this moth are found in Eucalypt stem galls. It's hard to say if the pink highlights are artificial (due to flash), or an angle specific trait. Different photo's of the same specimen show high variations of this highlight colour. The antennae of the male have very long, fine, nearly invisible pectination pairs (quad-pectinate) per segment. A species complex with two known DNA different colonies, one in Perth, with the other on the East Cost. We don't know if this is a third, or belongs to one of the two mentioned. | |||||
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