WINDOW-WINGED MOTH

any of the several hundred species of tropical insects constituting the family Thyrididae (order Lepidoptera). They are generally dark-coloured and small to medium-sized, with a wingspan of from 10 to 30 mm (0.4 to 1.2 inches). The middle area of each wing usually has a characteristic translucent yellow or whitish area of exposed membrane, hence the name window. Larvae are leaf rollers; i.e., they live within a tunnel formed by spinning together the edges of a leaf. For pupation they make a cocoon on the ground. Some authorities consider the Thyrididae to be closely related to ancestral butterflies.