Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Xylorycta flavicosta

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Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894)


Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894), ♂. Imbil, Queensland, at light, October 2014.

Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894),♀. Queensland Museum.

Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894),♂. Queensland Museum.

Cryptophaga flavicosta T.P. Lucas, 1894, Descriptions of new Australian Lepidoptera, with additional localities for known species. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 8: 133–166 [163]. Syntype(s) SAMA number unknown ♂♀, Brisbane, Qld.
Cryptophaga flavicosta Lucas. Walsingham, 1898: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, vii-xii.
Xylorycta flavicosta Lucas. Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [13].
Xylorycta flavicosta Lucas. Walsingham, 1898, Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, vii-xii, following p. 444.
Xylorycta ixeuta Meyrick, 1915. Exotic Microlepidoptera. 1 (10–15): 289–320, 321–352, 353–384, 385–416, 417–448, 449–480 [374]. Syntype(s) BMNH 2♀, Townsville, Qld.
Xylorycta flavicosta Lucas. D’Abrera, 1974, Moths of Australia, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, 1-79.
Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894). Common, in Nielsen, Edwards, & Rangsi, 1996, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM [89]. [Synonymy with X. ixeuta noted].
Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894). Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 5 May 2010].
Xylorycta ixeuta Meyrick, 1915. Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 5 May 2010]. [Synonymy not noted].
Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894). Edwards, E. D. (2003), Xyloryctinae. Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/XYLORYCTINAE [accessed 19 June 2010].

Original description, T.P. Lucas 1894
Cryptophaga flavicosta, sp. nov.
♂ ♀. 28-38 mm. Head ashy-grey. Palpi whitish-grey. Antennae fuscous, becoming ashy-grey at base. Thorax slaty-grey, becoming ashy-grey anteriorly. Abdomen slaty-grey, posterior segments in ♂ copper-red bordered with rich velvety-black, in ♀ slaty-grey banded with narrow lines of black and fuscous-red. Legs orange-red inclining to ferrous. Forewings elongate, moderate, costa scarcely arched in ♂, slightly arched in ♀, apex obtuse, hindmargin slightly rounded, somewhat oblique, rich slaty-grey, becoming ashy-grey toward basal portion of costa; an orange-red costal band, more brown-red in ♀ and with a rich black velvety patch in apical angle: cilia slaty-grey, with indistinct fuscous bands. Hindwings fuscous-grey; cilia as forewings.
Brisbane; bred by Mr. Illidge in Nov., 1892, from Eucalyptus eugenioides and E. corymbosa [Corymbia gummifera].


Synonymic description, Meyrick 1917
Xylorycta ixeuta, n. sp.
♀. 34 mm. Head ochreous-white. Palpi white, second joint tinged with ochreous. Thorax grey-whitish. Abdomen white, segmental margins ferruginous-brownish. Anterior legs ochreous. Forewings elongate, costa gently arched, apex rounded, termen rounded, somewhat oblique; 8 to apex; glossy very pale grey, towards costa anteriorly and base suffused with whitish; costal edge yellow-ochreous; an irregular blackish mark on apical edge: cilia glossy whitish-grey tinged with ochreous, whitish at base round apex. Hindwings with 7 to apex; whitish-grey, veins suffused with grey, costa, base, and dorsum suffused with whitish; cilia white, round apex somewhat suffused with greyish.
Queensland, Townsville, in November (Dodd); two specimens.

Other references

Xylorycta flavicosta, Lucas. (Cryptophaga flavicosta, Lucas, Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 1893, 163.) Male, 26 mm.; antennal ciliations, 1 ½ -2. Female, 35-36 mm. Readily distinguished by the slate-coloured forewings with orange costal streak.
Var. pallida. — Mr. Dodd has brought a male and female specimen from Charters Towers with whitish hindwings, forewings rather paler than in Brisbane types, with broader orange costal streak, and more black dots on hindmargin. (Turner, 1898).


Xylorycta flavicosta, Lucas, ♂, ♀, pupae, mantle; (Walsingham, 1898).

Xylorycta flavicosta, D’Abrera 1974

It is possible that this species [Philarista porphyrinella] and X. flavicosta Lucas do not actually belong to this genus. (D’Abrera, 1974).

Diagnosis:

Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894), ♀ head. IM08-2624, 4 November 2008, Imbil, Queensland.


Thorax:
Xylorycta flavicosta (T.P. Lucas, 1894), ♀ wing venation


Abdomen:

Food plants:

Flight period: October, November.

Distribution: Queensland. Endemic. Larval foodplant: Eucalyptus eugenioides, E. gummifera [Corymbia gummifera] (Myrtaceae). (Edwards, 2003).

Remarks: The male antennae appear to be bipectinate, and the wing venation has strong similarities to that of Cryptophasa platypedimela, which suggests that Xylorycta flavicosta might be more likely to belong to Cryptophasa. Until a male is dissected, no further determination can be made.