Conoeca or Lepidoscia (genera) IMMATURE

Unidentified Cone Case Moth larva, pupa, or case at O'Connor, ACT

Request use of media

Identification history

Lepidoscia (genus) CONE CASE	26 May 2022	donhe
Lepidoscia (genus) CONE CASE	26 May 2022	ibaird
Conoeca or Lepidoscia (genera) IMMATURE	2 Dec 2020	ibaird
Unverified	2 Dec 2020	ConBoekel

Identify this sighting

Please Login or Register to identify this sighting.

User's notes

The ant made repeated attempts at pulling open the case. It concentrated at the head end but tried different locations on the case. The casemoth did three things in response: (1) nothing, (2) little runs up the twig when the ant was distracted, and (3) bursts of three rapid shakes to try and throw off the ant. There were numerous other Irido ants in the vicinity and the would-be predator interacted with them but they seemed to be more focused on harvesting the leaf hoppers.

1 comment

donhe wrote:

2 Dec 2020

Thanks for the fascinating observations. To get a secure identification, you need to take it into captivity, and rear it to get an adult moth. Failing that, we can only conjecture. The long conical shape covered in bands of finely chewed vegetation, has been identified as characteristic of some Lepidoscia species, and a conical case with one or more long sticks attached, like this sighting 4360221, has been noted before at CNM sighting 3388047.

Please Login or Register to comment.

Location information

Coordinates 149.107385 -35.259475
Altitude 609.3m
Maps Dryandra St Woodland
Places O'Connor, ACT

Sighting information

1 Abundance
1 Dec 2020 09:23 AM Recorded on
ConBoekel Recorded by
Collections
Insects Moths (Lepidoptera) Case moths (Psychidae) ConBoekel Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Additional information

Iridomyrmex purpureus Associated animal
25mm to 50mm Animal size

Species information

Conoeca or Lepidoscia (genera) IMMATURE Scientific name
Unidentified Cone Case Moth larva, pupa, or case Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 995m Recorded at altitude
Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Verified by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes

Australian Capital Territory

New South Wales

Queensland

Northern Territory

Western Australia

South Australia

Victoria

Tasmania