Hollow Twig Wingia Moth
Anterior
Adelaide Hills
Hollow Twig Wingia Moth
Case, Sealed End
 
                      
Hollow Twig Wingia Moth (Hemibela hemicalypta)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Butterflies & Moths (Lepidoptera)
Family: Wingia Moth (:Gelechioidea Oecophoridae Wingia)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Hollow Twig Wingia Moth (Hemibela hemicalypta)
This Photo:     Case, profile

Thank you Ken Harris for identifying and Prof Victor W Fazio III† for confirming the id of this species for us

General Species Information:
Found in the Adelaide Hills and possibly elsewhere
Using a similar strategy to case moths, the caterpillars of this genera hollow out a twig and carry it around.
As you can see in the photo's they then pupate inside it. The twig is much smaller than the moth that emerges from it.
We found a hollow twig on a small grass tip (thought it was an insect) and realised it was a case glued to the grass, with the grass growing through it. A few days later we found another, thinking it was a case moth, with the end stuck to our poly rainwater tank. We put them in a container and couldn't believe what came out when they emerged.
Body ~7mm, wingspan ~17mm. The twigs are 11-12mm long, ~2mm outside diam & ~1.5mm inside diameter.

Copyright © 2017-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 26-Nov-2017
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.