Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Xylorycta ophiogramma



Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyrick, 1890


♂ - Qld, Bamaga, 13. Mar. 1964, I.F.B. Common M.S. Upton leg. (ANIC). [AMO].

♀ - Qld, Mareeba, 26. Feb. 1963, P. Macnicol leg. (ANIC). [AMO].

Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyrick, 1890. Descriptions of Australian Lepidoptera. Part I. Xyloryctidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia  13: 23–81 [58]. Syntype(s) BMNH 3♀, Duaringa, Qld.
Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyr. Lower, 1897. New Australian Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 22: 263–274 [270].
Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyr. Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [14].
Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyr. Lower, 1901, Descriptions of new genera and species of Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 25: 63-98 [84].
Xylorycta ophiogramma. Meyrick, 1921, Exotic Microlepidoptera. 2 (13–15): 385-416, 417-448, 449-480 [445].
Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyrick, 1890. 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 ophiogramma. Zborowski and Edwards, 2007, A Guide to Australian Moths, CSIRO, 1- 214 [77].
Xylorycta ophiogramma Meyrick, 1890. 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 ophiogramma Meyrick, 1890. 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, Meyrick, 1890
Xyl. ophiogramma, n. sp.
Female 24-28 mm. Head orange. Palpi pale yellowish, second joint dark fuscous externally on lower 2/5, terminal joint whitish, anterior edge fuscous. Antennae ochreous-whitish. Thorax silvery-white, with a transverse ochreous-brown bar behind collar. Abdomen whitish-ochreous. Legs dark fuscous, middle pair banded with ochreous-whitish, posterior pair pale yellowish. Forewings elongate-oblong, costa slightly arched, apex obtuse, hind margin straight, little oblique; silvery-white; markings dark ochreous-brown; a slender costal streak from base to ¾; three narrow irregular fasciae, first very near base; second from beyond middle of costa. to before middle of inner margin, slightly sinuate inwards on lower half; third from costa before apex to anal angle, rather angulated inwards in middle, lower extremity connected with middle of second fascia by an irregular bar: cilia whitish-ochreous, base more yellowish-ochreous. Hind wings whitish-ochreous, yellowish-tinged, towards apex suffused with light grey; cilia as in forewings.
Duaringa, Queensland; three specimens received from Mr. G. Barnard. Larva, according to Mr. Barnard, residing in a barricaded tunnel in stem of Hakea lorea, and carrying in the very long filiform leaves for food.
 
Other references

[Xylorycta chrysomela] Between ophiogramma, Meyr., and porphyrinella, Walk. (Lower, 1897).

Xylorycta ophiogramma, Meyr. Meyrick, 58. Two specimens from the Dawson River. (Brisbane Museum.) Meyrick's types were from Duaringa. (Turner, 1898).

[Xylorycta tetrazona] Apparently nearly allied to ophiogramma, Meyr., but immediately separated by the extra fascia (in the former species there are but three), and the yellow hindwings. (Lower, 1901).

[Xylorycta tignaria] Next ophiogramma.  (Meyrick, 1921).

 
P. Zborowski

The small to medium-sized Xylorycta ophiogramma is found in tropical eucalypt woodlands from Cape York to the Atherton Tableland, Queensland. Nothing is known of its biology. (Zborowski and Edwards, 2007).

Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Food plants: Larva boring in stem.  Larval foodplant: Hakea lorea (Proteaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period:
Distribution: Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).

Remarks: