The casemoth, Liothula omnivoa (Psychidae : lepidoptera) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Zoology at Massey University

Abstract

Liothula omnivora, one of the two known casemoths endemic to New Zealand, belongs to the Lepidopteran family Psychidae. It is distributed throughout the country, and can be found on a large number of host plants (see later). The other N.Z. casemoth, Orophora concolor, has been found on Wild Irishman and cassinias in the river beds of the South Island (Miller, 1955). L. omnivora was first described by Fereday in 1878, but Meyrick (1890) transferred it to the genus Oiketicus (Guilding, 1827) mis-spelling it Oeceticus. Dr. Allan Watson (1967, pers. comm.) of the British Museum (Natural History) considers that this species should belong in the genus Liothula and the writer has adopted Watson's view in calling it L. omnivora. The type of L. omnivora is in the Canterbury Museum, Christchurch (Entomologische Beihefte 4, Horn and Kahle, 1937). Descriptions of the external morphology of the adult male and female have been made by Fereday (1878), Meyrick (1890) and Hudson (1928). Fereday and Hudson also described the larva, the pupa has been described by Hudson and Quail (1901), and the appearance of the egg briefly noted by Hudson