Tachystola acroxantha is a moth of the family Oecophoridae. It is native to Australia, but is an invasive species in New Zealand and Europe, probably imported with Australian plants.
The wingspan is 13–15 mm. In Britain the moth flies from late-April to September, possibly in two extended generations or in a succession of broods.[1] [2] It comes to light and has been found in gardens, heath and in a flour mill.[3]
In Australia the larvae have been found between flat spun, fallen Eucalyptus leaves, on the ground or on fallen branches, favouring moist leaves. In Great Britain, Alexander Allen obtained eggs from a captured female and saw the larvae initially feeding gregariously in a silken web and as they grew they fed alone. Some ate withered leaves, but all the larvae preferred fresh leaves. The first wild larvae found in Great Britain was in the garden of the Natural History Museum, London (BMNH) in March 1998. They were in loose silken tubes covered with leaf-fragments and frass, between dry, layered leaves of London plane (Platanus × hispanica).[2]
The moth is native to Australia (New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria), and has been introduced to New Zealand and Great Britain, most certainly on imported plants. In Britain it was first taken in 1908 at Ottery St Mary, Devon and is now found in the south of England and in Cheshire and Lancashire.[2]