Xylorycta candescens Lower, 1896
♀ - Qld, Townsville, 15. Oct. 1901, F.P. Dodd leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
Xylorycta candescens Lower, 1896. New Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 20: 152–170 [163]. Holotype SAMA ♀, Brisbane, Qld.
Lichenaula dissimilis Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [18]. Syntype(s) ANIC 2♂, Charters Towers, Qld.
Lichenaula candescens Turner, 1902: New Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 26, 175-207 [196].
Xylorycta candescens Lower, 1896. Common, in Nielsen, Edwards, & Rangsi, 1996, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM [89].
Xylorycta candescens Lower, 1896. 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 5 May 2010].
Xylorycta dissimilis (Turner, 1898). 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 5 May 2010]. [Synonymy not noted].
Xylorycta candescens Lower, 1896. 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 19 June 2010].
Original description, Lower 1896
Xylorycta candescens, n. sp.
Female, 26 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax shining snow-white, second joint of palpi internally fuscous. Thorax with an irregular fuscous quadrate blotch in middle. Antennae whitish. Legs whitish, anterior tibiae and tarsi fuscous. Abdomen whitish, segmental margins ochreous. Forewings elongate, moderate, hardly dilated, costa nearly straight, apex somewhat pointed; hindmargin oblique; shining snow-white; extreme costal edge ochreous, becoming indistinct at and around apex, fuscous at base; a broad light fuscous longitudinal streak along inner margin, from near base to anal angle, and continued right through cilia, somewhat attenuated anteriorly; cilia shining snow-white, except at anal angle, which is fuscous through continuation of longitudinal streak. Hindwings pale-grey; cilia shining snow-white.
Brisbane, Queensland. One specimen in December. Remarkably distinct, the continuance of the fuscous longitudinal streak through the cilia is a curious and noticeable character.
Synonymic description, Turner 1898
Lichenaula dissimilis n. sp. Male, 21 mm. Antennal ciliations, 2. Female, 35 mm. Forewings with vein 7 to hindmargin. Head and face white. Palpi fuscous; .base of second joint whitish. Antennae whitish. Thorax fuscous, anterior margin narrowly, lateral margins broadly, snow-white. Abdomen ochreous-whitish. Legs ochreous-whitish, anterior pair infuscated. Forewings narrow-elongate, costa scarcely arched, apex rounded, hindmargin almost straight, moderately oblique; shining snow-white; costal edge narrowly ochreous; a broad fuscous streak along inner margin from near base to hindmargin; cilia at apex snow-white, along hindmargin and at anal angle ochreous-fuscous. Hindwings pale grey; cilia becoming greyish towards anal angle.
This species is a striking example of the deceptiveness of superficial characters. It so closely resembles Chalarotona craspedota, Meyr., that I at first mistook it for that species, and had no doubt that it was closely allied, until examination of the structural characters showed that the two were widely separated. Charters Towers: two specimens from Mr. Dodd, who says that the larvae spin together the leaves of a species of Grevillea (?).
Other references
Xylorycta candescens, Lower. Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A. 1896, 163. I do not know this species. It is described by Lower from a specimen taken in Brisbane in December. (Turner, 1898).
Lichenaula candescens, Low.
(Xylorycta candescens, Lower. Tr. R.S. S.A., 1896, p. 163; Lichenaula dissimilis, Turner. Annals Queensland Mus., 1897, iv., p. 18.)
Charters Towers, Townsville, and Brisbane, Queensland. (Turner, 1902).
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Food plants: Larva tying leaves or seed pods with silk. Larval foodplant: Grevillea mimosoides, Grevillea sp. (Proteaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period: December.
Distribution: Northern Territory, Queensland, Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks: