Batrachedra arenosella

Batrachedra arenosella, the armoured scale eating caterpillar or the coconut moth, is a species of moth of the family Batrachedridae. It was first described by Francis Walker using specimens collected in Auckland, New Zealand. It has been hypothesised that the New Zealand moth may contain two distinct species. As well as the moth species in New Zealand, this name has been applied, perhaps incorrectly, to moths found in India, Indonesia, the Malay Peninsula, and Réunion, as well as in Australia, from the Northern Territory and northern Queensland to New South Wales and South Australia.[2]

Batrachedra arenosella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Batrachedridae
Genus: Batrachedra
Species:
B. arenosella
Binomial name
Batrachedra arenosella
(Walker, 1864)[1]
Synonyms
  • Gracilaria arenosella Walker, 1864
  • Batrachedra psilopa Meyrick, 1907

Taxonomy
Illustration of female.

B. arenosella was first described by Francis Walker in 1864 using specimens collected in Auckland, New Zealand by Daniel Bolton.[3] From 1924 this species name was also applied to moth species found in south east asian countries as well as in Australasia that are known to ingest the flowers of coconut trees.[4] The application of this name to these moths has been argued to be incorrect as the New Zealand species is known to feed on scale insects.[4] However the New Zealand moth species itself may well contain two separate species as larvae have been recorded as feeding not just on scale insects but have also been reared on the seed heads of Cyperus ustulatus.[5]

The syntype series of specimens upon which Walker based his description can no longer be found in the Natural History Museum, London and none of the specimens held by that museum are from the original type locality.[6] Having investigated the specimens that are held by the Natural History Museum, John S. Dugdale was of the opinion that the genitalia of the New Zealand female specimens differ from the female Queensland specimen held by that institution.[6]

Description

Walker originally described this species as follows:

Female. Pale cinereous fawn-colour, very slender. Antennae long, shorter than the fore wings. Abdomen extending for its whole length beyond the hind wings. Legs long, slender. Wings with a very long fringe. Fore wings narrow, acute, thinly and very minutely brown-speckled ; a small brown dot in the disk at one-third of the length. Hind wings cinereous, extremely narrow. Length of the body 3 lines; of the wings 8 lines.[3]

Hosts

In New Zealand Dr J. G. Myers reported the larvae of this species feeding on a species of scale insect, Poliaspis media.[7][8] Whereas Edward Meyrick reported the larvae of this species feeding amongst the seeds of species in the genus Juncus in August.[7] The larvae were observed forming a web like shelter from which they fed.[7] The larvae of the south east asian moths have been reported damaging flowers of coconut trees.[9]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Batrachedra arenosella.
  1. "Batrachedra arenosella (Walker, 1864)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
  2. De Prins, J. & De Prins, W. (2017). "Batrachedra arenosella (Walker, 1864)". Afromoths. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  3. Francis Walker (1864), List of the specimens of lepidopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum. XXX: Tineites, London, p. 857, Wikidata Q108264250{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Matthew J. W. Cock; Dwayne H Burris (1 May 2013). "Neotropical palm-inflorescence feeding moths (Lepidoptera: Batrachedridae, Blastobasidae, Cosmopterigidae, Gelechiidae, Pyralidae, Tineidae): a review of the literature and new records from Trinidad, West Indies". The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera. 46: 7. doi:10.5962/P.332186. ISSN 0022-4324. Wikidata Q111988590.
  5. Alan Emmerson; Robert Hoare (28 October 2019). "Lepidoptera from Redvale, Albany, north of Auckland, New Zealand, 2004-2016: an annotated list". The Wētā. 53: 58. ISSN 0111-7696. Wikidata Q105342215.
  6. 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: 84. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  7. George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington, p. 304, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. "Batrachedra arenosella (Walker, 1864) - Invertebrate herbivore report". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-07-21.
  9. Wily Ardert Baringbing (December 1986). "Biological Control of the Coconut Moth, Batrachedra arenosella by Chelonus Parasites in Indonesia" (PDF). Proceedings of the Hawaiian Entomological Society. 27: 41–44. hdl:10125/11206. ISSN 0073-134X. Wikidata Q100600032.



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