Dichocrocis clytusalis
Encyclopedia
The Kurrajong Bag Moth (Dichocrocis clytusalis) is a species of moth
of the Crambidae
family. It is known from the north-eastern half of Australia
.
The wingspan
is about 20 mm. Adults are bright yellow, with black zig-zag lines across the wings, and a prominent black spot near the middle of each forewing.
The larvae feed on Brachychiton rupestre, Brachychiton acerifolium and Brachychiton populneus
. They only eat the soft green parts of a leaf, leaving a skeleton of veins. They are green with sparse hairs and some brown markings and can reach a length of about 20 mm when full-grown. They live communally in a bag formed by rolling up leaves of their food plant and joining them with silk. They hide in the bag by day, emerging to feed at night.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Crambidae
Crambidae
The Crambidae are the grass moth family of Lepidoptera . They are quite variable in appearance, the nominal subfamily Crambinae taking up closely folded postures on grass-stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies include brightly coloured and patterned insects which rest in...
family. It is known from the north-eastern half of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 20 mm. Adults are bright yellow, with black zig-zag lines across the wings, and a prominent black spot near the middle of each forewing.
The larvae feed on Brachychiton rupestre, Brachychiton acerifolium and Brachychiton populneus
Brachychiton populneus
The Kurrajong is a small to medium sized tree found naturally in Australia in a diversity of habitats from wetter coastal districts to semi-arid interiors of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. The extended trunk is a water storage devise for survival in a warm dry climate...
. They only eat the soft green parts of a leaf, leaving a skeleton of veins. They are green with sparse hairs and some brown markings and can reach a length of about 20 mm when full-grown. They live communally in a bag formed by rolling up leaves of their food plant and joining them with silk. They hide in the bag by day, emerging to feed at night.