Cryptaspasma querula

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1912 and named Eucosma querula.[3] George Hudson in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand discussed and illustrated this species under that name.[4] Also in 1928 Alfred Philpott studied the male genitalia of this species.[5] Alexey Diakonoff placed this species within the genus Cryptaspasma in 1959.[6] The male lectotype, collected in Wellington by George Hudson, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Illustration of male by G. Hudson.

Meyrick described the adults of this species as follows:

♂♀. 21-28 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax dark fuscous. Abdomen fuscous, not hairy. Forewings elongate-triangular, costa gently arched, in♂ with very short and narrow basal fold, apex obtuse, termen rounded, rather oblique ; purplish-bronzy-fuscous suffusedly mixed and strigulated with dark fuscous ; costa obscurely pale-strigulated on posterior 2⁄3 ; a whitish or ochreous-whitish dot in disc at 2⁄3 ; two or three variable curved transverse series of small dark-fuscous spots or dots between this and termen : cilia fuscous, with darker line near base. Hindwings fuscous, posteriorly sometimes faintly darker-strigulated ; in ♂ without special characters ; cilia pale fuscous.[3]

Adults of C. querula is variable in both the appearance of the yellow markings on their wings as well as in their size.[7] The female tends to be more plainly coloured than the male.[7]

This species is endemic to New Zealand found throughout the country.[7][1]

Larval host Beilschmiedia tawa.

This species inhabits native podocarp and broadleaf forest.[7] The larvae feed on the fleshy cotyledons of Beilschmiedia tawa seeds as well as on the endosperm of the fruits of B. tawa, tarairi and miro trees.[8][7] Larvae of this species has also been raised in captivity on common oak.[9] The larvae of this species are a common food source for Mus musculus.[10]

Adults of this species is on the wing most months of the year.[7] Although they can be disturbed during the day, they are nocturnal and are attracted to light.[7] They can be found inside houses due to this attraction and have also been observed resting on fences or other human made structures.[4]