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.

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

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
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anisoplaca cosmia.
  1. 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. 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. 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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