Overview

The prominent ocelli, unscaled proboscis, and the venation make recognition easy. Adults rest with the anterior part of the body raised. The larvae are unknown.

Douglasiid host plants belong to the families Lamiaceae, Boraginaceae and Rosaceae.

Description

Very small; head smooth-scaled; ocelli prominent; chaetosemata absent; proboscis prominent; scape without pecten; maxillary palps rudimentary; labial palps short, drooping; hind tibiae with long hair-scales; fore wing lanceolate, R with 4 or 5 branches to costa, R5 and M1 stalked, CuP weak or absent, female with subcostal retinaculum; hind wing lanceolate, frenulum in female of 1 or 2 bristles, Rs at or near long axis of wing, venation reduced, CuA free. Larva fusiform, prolegs small, crochets absent, with long setae, abdomen with L1 and L2 approximated; mining in leaves ( Klimeschia ), tunnelling in stems among flowers ( Tinagma ). Pupa in stem or leaf, with spines on abdominal terga.

Distribution

Tinagma leucanthes is a tiny black species with two transverse white bands on the fore wing, known from Sydney (N.S.W.) and Stradbroke I. (Qld).