Anisoplaca cosmia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Gelechiidae
Genus: Anisoplaca
Species:
A. cosmia
Binomial name
Anisoplaca cosmia

Anisoplaca cosmia, also known as the Norfolk Island hibiscus moth, is a species of moth in the family Gelechiidae.[1] It was described by John David Bradley in 1956 and is native to Norfolk Island but has become established in New Zealand.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by John David Bradley in 1956 using a specimen caught while resting on a Norfolk Island Pine and named Anisoplaca cosmia.[2] The male holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2][3]

Description

The wingspan is about 16 mm. The forewings are buff with diffused fuscous-black markings and with the anterior margin of the costa irrorated (speckled) with blackish. There is a blackish dash at four-fifths and a small black spot at the base, an ochreous-buff suffusion below the costa, four small black discal dot-like spots surrounded by whitish rings, as well as a fifth spot not surrounded by a whitish ring in the ochreous-buff suffusion below the costa. The hindwings are light grey.[2]

This species is similar in appearance to the New Zealand species A. archyrota however can be distinguished as the labial palpus in A. cosmia is coloured fuscous-black to the top of the underside of the second segment where as in A. archyrota the labial palpus is only coloured fuscous-black for the bottom two thirds.[2]

Distribution

This species is native to Norfolk Island but has become established in New Zealand where it has been recorded in Auckland, Hawkes Bay and Gisborne.[4]

Hosts

Larval host L. patersonia.

The larvae of this species feed on the fruits and shoots of Lagunaria patersonia.[3]

References

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  1. 1 2 Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. 1 2 3 4 John David Bradley (1956). "Microlepidoptera from Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Entomology. 4: 156–158. ISSN 0524-6431. Wikidata Q112035731.
  3. 1 2 John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 14: 80. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  4. ↑ Bain, John (May 2004). "New Records" (PDF). Forest Health News. p. 2. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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