The larvae have been found beneath dead leaf sheaths of sugarcane, in fibrous material at the bases of palm fronds, in old Ipomoea capsules and in dead twigs and sticks of Araucaria, Lantana and Ricinus species.
Threats to the species include its low numbers and limited gene pool, degradation of its habitat by axis deer, and feral pigs, damage to plants by slugs, rats, and birds, and competition by exotic plants such as climbing dayflower (Commelina diffusa), air plant (Kalanchoe pinnata), and castor bean (Ricinus communis).
According to the author, the species is in fact a biblical moth species mentioned in the Book of Jonah, in which there is a description of a worm that, nightly, infested a kikayon (Ricinus) plant, and caused it to wither.