Friday, August 27, 2010

Cryptophasa psilocrossa



Cryptophasa psilocrossa Turner, 1902


♂ - NSW, 30 miles S of Bourke, 25. Oct. 1957, I.F.B. Common leg. (ANIC). [AMO].

♂ - Qld, Brisbane, A.J. Turner leg. (ANIC). TYPE [AMO].

Cryptophasa psilocrossa Turner, 1902. New Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia  26: 175–207 [203]. Holotype ANIC ♂, Brisbane, Qld.
Cryptophasa psilocrossa Turner, 1902. Common, in Nielsen, Edwards, & Rangsi, 1996, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM [87].
Cryptophasa psilocrossa Turner, 1902. Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/entomology/lepindex [accessed 17 April 2010].
Cryptophasa psilocrossa Turner, 1902. Edwards, E. D. (2003), Xyloryctinae. Australian Faunal Directory. Australian Biological Resources Study, Canberra. http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/abrs/online-resources/fauna/afd/taxa/XYLORYCTINAE [accessed 18 June 2010].

Original description, Turner 1902
Cryptophasa psilocrossa, n. sp.
Male, 35 mm. Head whitish-brown; face whitish. Palpi whitish. Antennae dark fuscous; pectinations 1. Thorax ochreous-brown, with a posterior pale ochreous spot. Abdomen dark fuscous; second segment orange-ochreous; tuft whitish-ochreous. Legs whitish-brown annulated with dark fuscous; posterior pair mostly dark fuscous. Forewings somewhat dilated near base; costa slightly arched, apex round-pointed, hindmargin obliquely rounded; ochreous brown; with five blackish dots in disc; first in disc beyond one-third; second in disc at two-thirds; third before and beneath second; fourth and fifth close together, above and beneath fold, equidistant from tarsi and third; an interrupted blackish line on lower two-thirds of hindmargin; cilia, ochreous-brown. Hindwings much broader than forewings, hindmargin rounded; dark fuscous; a narrow strip denuded of scales from apex along apical half of hindmargin; cilia white.
In general appearance resembles the male of C. balteata, Wlk., but the wings are broader and differently shaped. It also differs in the pale spot on thorax, absence of dots on costa of forewings; and partly bare margin and white cilia of hindwings. The female is not yet known.
Brisbane, in October; one specimen bred from Eucalyptus.

Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Food plants: Larval foodplant: Eucalyptus sp. (Myrtaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period:  October.
Distribution: Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).

Remarks: