Opsitycha squalidella
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| Species: | O. squalidella
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| Opsitycha squalidella | |
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Opsitycha squalidella is a moth of the family Oecophoridae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1884. This species is native to Australia and is likely adventive to New Zealand.
Taxonomy
[edit]This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1884 using several specimens collected in Melbourne and Hobart in December and named Philobota squalidella.[3] In 1939 George Hudson, thinking he was describing a new species, named it Borkhausenia morella.[4] In 2018 the species Borkhausenia morella was synonymised with O. squalidella.
Description
[edit]Meyrick described this species as follows:
♂. 14-17 mm. Head ochreous- white. Palpi white, externally irrorated with blackish. Antennae whitish-fuscous. Thorax ochreous-white, mixed with pale ochreous. Abdomen ochreous-whitish. Legs dark fuscous, ringed with ochreous-white, posterior tibiae ochreous- whitish. Fore wings elongate, narrow, costa slightly arched, apex round-pointed, hindmargin extremely obliquely rounded; ochreous-white, irregularly mixed and suffused with light ochreous, and with a few blackish scales; a small blackish spot at base of costa, another at 1⁄4, and a larger triangular spot in middle of costa; a black dot in disc at 1⁄3, a second obliquely before it on fold, a third in disc at 2⁄3, and a fourth on inner margin before anal angle; an irregular blackish fascia-like blotch from costa before apex to middle of hindmargin : cilia whitish-ochreous, finely irrorated with grey, basal half narrowly barred with blackish. Hind wings grey, base paler; cilia whitish, irrorated with grey.[3]
Distribution
[edit]This species is native to Australia and likely adventive to New Zealand.[1] In Australia this species is found in central and southern New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and southwestern Western Australia.[1] In New Zealand this species was first recorded in Auckland on or prior to 1939 and has also been observed in Napier.[1] It is regarded as being established in New Zealand but is scarce and local.[1]
Hosts
[edit]Although the life history of this species is not known it has been hypothesised that the larvae of O. squalidella feed on leaf litter.[1]
Behaviour
[edit]In New Zealand adults are on the wing from October to December.[1] The adults of this species are attracted to light.[5]
References
[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g RJB Hoare; N Hudson (December 2018). "Adventive moths (Lepidoptera) established in mainland New Zealand: Additions and new identifications since 2001". Australian Entomologist. 45 (3): 273–324. ISSN 1320-6133. Wikidata Q110305107.
- ^ "Opsitycha squalidella (Myerick, 1884)". nzinverts.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2021-12-29.
- ^ a b E. Meyrick (1884). "Descriptions of Australian Micro-Lepidoptera. X. Oecophoridae (continued)". Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales. 8: 496. doi:10.5962/BHL.PART.28677. ISSN 0370-047X. Wikidata Q56015274.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, pp. 444–445, OCLC 9742724, Wikidata Q109420935 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Genus Opsitycha – Field Guide to the Insects of Tasmania". Retrieved 2024-01-06.
