Leafrollers, Bell Moths - Family TORTRICIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Leafroller and Bell Moths that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
Some member of this family are called Leafrollers because their caterpillars roll the leaves of their foodplant and fixed with silk. They live and pupate within this rolled leaf shelter. Some other species are leaf miners or stem borers. Some others feed on dead leaves on the forest floor.
They are sometimes called Bell Moths because their adults, when in rest, have the shape of church bell. Their fore wings have the rather squared ends. The moths usually small (wingspan 8-30mm) and have cryptic colours. They usually active in late afternoon.
The Caterpillars are usually small and smooth-skinned. They will do the bungee-jump, i.e., drop with a silken thread, when disturbed.
- Leafroller on Malvaceae
- ? sp., body length 20mm
- We took the above pictures on mid-summer. We found many rolled leaf shelters were built on a Malvaceae plant. We open one of the rolled leaf and found a small pale green caterpillar. Its head was black in colour.
- Unknown Caterpillar build retreat between leaves
- ?sp., body length 20mm
- This caterpillar builds retreat with silk between two leaves. Please advise if you know what species it is.
- Unknown Bell Moth
- ?sp., body length 20mm
- Bird-dropping Moth
- ? sp., body length 12mm
- This moth mimics bird dropping. It did not move even with our very close watching. It flied away only when we used a small stick to disturb it.
