Overview
The adults of many Australian species have yellow or pale hind wings and cryptically coloured fore wings. Although the family is widely distributed in eastern, southern and western Australia, these day-flying moths, which occur mainly in dry areas, are little known.
Description
Small; head with loosely appressed slender or broad lamellar scales; ocelli large; chaetosemata absent; antennae uni- or bipectinate, laminate or thickened with scales in male, filiform in female; proboscis unscaled; maxillary palps minute, 1-3-segmented; labial palps short, slightly recurved; epiphysis present; spurs 0-2-4; fore wing without pterostigma, retinaculum on spur of Sc, chorda often present, M vestigial in cell, R
4
to costa near apex, CuP present at margin, 1A + 2A with prominent fork, hind wing with frenulum of 2 bristles in female, Sc + R
1
strong and diverging from Rs from base, M
3
often stalked with CuA
1
; abdomen often long, ovipositor extensible. Larva with weakly sclerotised prothoracic shield, 2 L setae on prothorax, ventral prolegs with crochets in 2 uniordinal, transverse rows; borers. Pupa with projection on head; T2-7 in male and T2-6 in female each with 2 transverse rows of spines.
Distribution
The endemic genus
Miscera
(20 spp.) includes the brightly coloured
M
.
androgyna
, but most species have greyish fore wings. The small genera
Synechodes
and
Euthorybeta
are also endemic.
Nigilgia
adjectella
, which also occurs in Africa and Asia, is locally common in North Qld where it is associated with the introduced ornamental
Tamarindus
indica
.