[Aim]  To describe the larval instars, morphological characteristics and developmental duration  of the tea-producing insect Hypsopygia repetita, and thereby provide a useful reference for the large-scale artificial breeding of this species. [Methods]  H. repetita were reared at room temperature on Choerospondias axillaris. The morphological characteristics and developmental duration of each developmental stage were photographed using a stereo microscope and recorded. The head capsule width of the larvae was measured using vernier calipers. The collected data were then used to calculate the Crosby index, Brooks index, frequency distribution, and to perform a regression analysis. [Results]  There were four life stages: Egg, larva, pupa and adult. Newly laid eggs were milky white, irregularly shaped spheres that became gradually transparent. Before hatching, they became pale yellow and the shape became ellipsoidal. The larval stage can be divided into 5 instars. The color of each successive instar gradually became darker, from the milky white of the 1st instar to the dark brown of the 5th instar, and body length and weight gradually increased. The width of the head capsule conformed to both Dyar 's and Crosby 's rule, and to an exponential growth model with a R² value of 0.992 9. The color of newly emerged pupae was pale yellow, but changed to reddish brown as pupae neared eclosion. The forewing and hindwings were light brown, the marginal hairs were light, reddish brown, the wing bases were mixed, black brown, and the middle chamber end of the forewing was black brown. It took about (51.4±0.1) d to complete a generation at 26 ℃. [Conclusion]  H. repetita is a newly discovered tea-producing insect. The larval stage can be classified into 5 instars on the basis of head capsule width.