Olethreutinid case moth

Spilonota constrictana

Spilonota is a genus of moths belonging to the subfamily Olethreutinae of the family Tortricidae.
Portable Pupal Case of a Tortricid Moth (Spilonota constrictana) This was a really interesting find for me. The cracked brown structure up the stem is the dried-up "nut" of this Callistemon but the smaller structure looking like two stacked pots is the portable larval case of a small moth. I believe that these "pots" are made up of tightly rolled bits of bark or leaf and probably stuck together with silk. I have seen up to a 3-pot stack and assume that as the larva outgrows a pot it makes another one to add to the first. Again, The moth larva probably feeds head down and wanders around being protected within the case. The following spotting shows a similar stack with the outer skin ( exuvia) of the adult still stuck to the base of the stack. Australia,Geotagged,Olethreutinid case moth,Spilonota constrictana

Appearance

Small, leaf rolling moths often found as a larva inside a portable pupal case.
Portable Pupal case of a Tortricid Moth with exuvia (Spilonota constrictana) A pupal case similar to the one seen in http://www.jungledragon.com/image/36706/portable_pupal_case_of_a_tortricid_moth_spilonota_constrictana.html Here there is two chamber stack with the exoskeleton (exuvia) of the adult still attached to the base of the stack. The adult would have emerged (ecloded) breaking out of its larval skin to a fully winged adult moth. The adult would have been a small dark moth from a family of leaf-rollers (Tortricidae). This one was spotted on the same tree as the one in the first spotting. Here is a similar one on record from New South Wales in 1975 http://www1.ala.org.au/gallery2/v/Tortricidae/olethreutinae/Eucosmini/SPILONOTA+constrictana+Walker+1881+Portable+Case+of+Larva.jpg.html Australia,Geotagged,Olethreutinid case moth,Spilonota constrictana,Spring

Naming

Synonym history
Bathrotoma constrictana Meyrick, 1881
Ancylis panolbia Turner, 1946

Distribution

Victoria, southern New South Wales

Status

Unknown

Behavior

The pupal stage is noted for the construction of a portable case consisting of 2 or 3 attached chambers, each usually slightly offset.

Habitat

Often on Callistemon sp,

Food

Callistemon sp.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://www1.ala.org.au/gallery2/v/Tortricidae/olethreutinae/Eucosmini/SPILONOTA+constrictana+Walker+1881+Portable+Case+of+Larva.jpg.html
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:b259eb3c-57a3-4cd6-a6df-5151d33bafc6#
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyTortricidae
GenusSpilonota
SpeciesSpilonota constrictana
Photographed in
Australia