A new species of Trisyntopa Lower (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) associated with the nests of the hooded parrot (Psephotus dissimilis, Psittacidae) in the Northern Territory

Abstract  Trisyntopa neossophila sp. n. (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae), reared from the nest of the hooded parrot ( Psephotus dissimilis Collett), is described using morphological characters. Aspects of its biology are reported and similarities to the biology of Trisyntopa scatophaga (White) found in the nests of the golden-shouldered parrot ( Psephotus chrysopterygius Gould) are discussed and questions formulated to suggest further work on the parrot–moth relationship. The possibility that a moth was associated with the extinct paradise parrot ( Psephotus pulcherrimus (Gould)) is considered in the light of the phylogenetic relationships between the parrots.     

Ecology of the coprophagous moth Trisyntopa neossophila Edwards (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae)

Trisyntopa neossophila Edwards (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) is an unusual moth whose breeding cycle is closely synchronised with a termite mound nesting parrot of northern Australia; the hooded parrot ( Psephotus dissimilis Collet). T. neossophila is one of three coprophagous, nest dwelling moths in the genus Trisyntopa Lower 1918. True coprophagy is rare in the Lepidoptera, although some species occasionally consume faeces to gain rare nutrients. We present observations of the life cycle of T. neossophila , a moth that lays its eggs in the nest of a hooded parrot, so that larvae hatch in synchrony with the hatching of the parrot's eggs. The larvae spend their larval period in the nest and exclusively consume the excrement of the nestling parrots. When the parrot chicks fledge, the larvae move to the walls of the nest cavity to pupate, emerging the following wet season to repeat the process during the next parrot breeding season.