Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907 [Gelechiadae], Descriptions of Indian Micro-lepidoptera. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 17: 3 730–754 [738]. Type species: Thymiatris melitacma Meyrick, 1907 by monotypy.
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. Fletcher, T.B., 1929, A list of generic names used for Microlepidoptera, Mem. Dep. Agric. India, Ser. 11 : 1-244 (222).
Thymiatris. Gates Clark, Catalogue of the Type Specimens of Microlepidoptera in the British Museum (Natural History) Described by Edward Meyrick. Vol. 1. [17, 18].
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. Gates-Clark, 1955, Meyrick Types of Microlepidoptera in the British Museum of Natural History, London. Vol 2, [502, pl. 250, figs. 1-1d].
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. Diakonoff, A., 1967, Microlepidoptera of the Philippine Islands, United States National Museum Bulletin 257, 1-484 (113).
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. Sattler, K., 1974, A catalogue of the family-group and genus-group names of the Gelechiidae, Holcopogonidae, Lecithoceridae and Symmocidae (Lepidoptera), Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology, Vol. XXVIII, 153-282 (260).
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [229].
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. 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 June 2010].
Thymiatris Meyrick, 1907. 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 17 June 2010].
Original description, Meyrick 1907
Thymiatris n. g.
Head with loosely appressed hairs; tongue obsolete. Antennae 3/5, in ♂ moderately ciliated (1), basal joint elongate, stout, without pecten. Labial palpi rather long, recurved, second joint with rough projecting scales beneath, terminal joint shorter than second, rather loosely scaled, pointed. Maxillary palpi rudimentary. Anterior tarsi thickened with rough projecting scales throughout; posterior tibiae rough-haired above and beneath. Forewings with lb long-furcate, 2 from 4/5, 8 and 9 out of 7, 7 to apex, 10 remote, 11 from before middle. Hindwings considerably over 1, trapezoidal-ovate, termen not sinuate, cilia 1/6; 3 and 4 short-stalked, 5 parallel, 6 and 7 stalked.
Allied to Brachmia [Gelechiidae].
Other references
The following genera have veins 6 and 7 of the hindwing stalked and have no crossvein between vein 8 and the cell: Aeolanthes [Lecithoceridae], Amphitrias [Gelechiidae] (synonym of Odites), Antithyra [Gelechiidae], Antolaea [Oecophorinae], Epimactis [Lecithoceridae], Myriopleura [Lecithoceridae] (synonym of Odites), Procometis [Autostichinae], Prothamnodes, Rhizosthenes [Lecithoceridae], Thymiatris, Trichernis [Lecithoceridae] (synonym of Odites) and Trypherantis.
Aside from the two features mentioned above, there is little to recommend the close association of these genera and much less to support their relationship to xyloryctidae (s. str.). [Gates Clark 1, 1955).
Thymiatris and Trypherantis are very closely related, having symmetrical male genitalia with a semi-tubular anellus, broadly attached harpe with clasper, aedeagus without blind-sac and gnathos and uncus present. [Gates Clark 1, 1955).
Left wings
Right wing venation
Nb the forewing venation, with R3 and R4 out of R5.
labial palpi
♂ genitalia, Thymiatris melitacma
aedeagus, Thymiatris melitacma
Thymiatris melitacma, genotype. (Gates Clark 2, 1955).
♂ genitalia, Thymiatris arista, pl. 250, Diakonoff 1967 [Philippines]
Although gigantic forms of the family Xyloryctidae are confined to the Australian and Papuan regions, the large representatives of the present genus form an exception, occurring throughout the Malay Archipelago as far westward as Assam. According to Meyrick, these regions were inhabited by a single wide-spread species, Thymiatris melitacma Meyrick, originally described from the Khasi Hills, Assam. It appears to me now, however, that the material from the Philippine Islands belongs to a closely allied but distinct species differing not only in minor characters of the male genitalia, but also, and surprisingly, by certain superficial features. The description of the genus, therefore, needs to be extended as follows.
Labial palpus with median segment rather smooth, terminal segment slightly over 1/2. Forewing sometimes with veins 4 and 5 separate (in the type species these veins are stalked, a fact not mentioned in the original description), vein 9 separate. (Diakonoff, 1967).
THYMIATRIS Meyrick, 1907, J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 17 : 738.
Type-species: Thymiatris melitacma Meyrick, 1907, ibid. 17 : 738, by monotypy.
Originally described in the Gelechiadae [= Gelechiidae]; subsequently transferred to the Cryptophasidae [= Xyloryctidae] (Fletcher, 1929, Mem. Dep. Agric. India, Ser. 11 : 222). (Sattler, 1974).
Thymiatris Meyrick, with two Australian species, also occurs in the Oriental region. (Common, 1990).
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Immature stages:
Distribution: New South Wales, Queensland. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks:
Thymiatris, a censer, incense burner.
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Thymiatris allocrossa (Turner, 1902)
Thymiatris allocrossa, ANIC
Lichenaula allocrossa Turner, 1902, New Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 26: 175–207 [196]. Holotype BMNH ♂, Mt Elliott near Townsville, Qld
Thymiatris allocrossa(Turn.), Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [229].
Thymiatris allocrossa (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 [88].
Original description, Turner 1902
Lichenaula allocrossa, n. sp.
Male and female, 22-25 mm. Head and palpi clear brown. Antennae fuscous; in male slightly serrate, with short ciliations (1/2). Thorax whitish-grey; anteriorly dark brown. Abdomen grey, mixed with brown on dorsum, tuft of male whitish. Legs fuscous; posterior femora and tibiae ochreous-whitish. Forewings elongate-oblong, costa slightly arched, apex rectangular, hindmargin straight, not oblique; grey-whitish mixed with dark fuscous scales, which tend to form streaks on veins; an obscure longitudinally elongate brown spot at end of cell; hindmargin clear brown except at anal angle; cilia narrowly white at bases, then broadly brown-fuscous, then pale fuscous mixed with whitish, at anal angle wholly grey-whitish. Hindwings somewhat broader than forewings, hindmargin rounded; ochreous-fuscous-whitish; cilia whitish with a grey line at one-third.
Mount Elliott, near Townsville, Queensland, in September; a series bred by Mr. F. P. Dodd.
Type in Coll. Walsingham.
Other references
The related species T. allocrossa (Turn.) has been reared from larvae feeding on Elattostachys xylocarpa (Sapindaceae) [White Tamarind] at Mt Elliott, near Townsville. (Common, 1990).
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Thymiatris allocrossa, ♂, genitalia. Mt Elliott, near Townsville, bred 17 September 1900, collected by F.P. Dodd. ANIC slide no. G269, dissected by I.F.B. Common. Photomicrograph taken at ANIC, Canberra.
Thymiatris allocrossa, ♂, aedeagus. Mt Elliott, near Townsville, bred 17 September 1900, collected by F.P. Dodd. ANIC slide no. G269, dissected by I.F.B. Common. Photomicrograph taken at ANIC, Canberra.
Food plants: Larval foodplant: Elattostachys xylocarpa (Sapindaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period:
Distribution: Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks:
Neither do they particularly closely resemble those of T. melitacma, the type species, lacking the distinctive pointed uncus that it has in common with other South-east Asian and Papuan species of this genus.
Its generic position remains confusing.
Thymiatris cephalochra (Lower, 1894)
Thymiatris cephalochra, QM
Thymiatris cephalochra, BOLD
Cryptophaga cephalochra Lower, 1894, New Australian Heterocera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 18: 77–113 [90]. Holotype SAMA ♀, Central Railway Station, Brisbane, Qld.
Cryptophaga cephalochra Lower. Illidge, 1895: Xylorycts, or timber moths. Queensland Natural History Society Transactions, 1, 29-34. Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [229].
Xylorycta cephalochra, Lower, 1894. Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [12].
Xylorycta cephalochra, Lower. Lower, 1901: Descriptions of new genera and species of Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 25: 63-98 [83].
Thymiatris cephalochra (Lower, 1894). Common, in Nielsen, Edwards, & Rangsi, 1996, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM [88].
Xylorycta cephalochra, Lower, 1894. 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 1 May 2010].
Thymiatris cephalochra (Lower, 1894). 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 17 June 2010].
Original description, Lower 1894
CRYPTOPHAGA CEPHALOCHRA, n. sp.
Female, 45 mm. Head and palpi ochreous-white, basal two-thirds of second joint fuscous externally. Thorax ashy-fuscous, anteriorly whitish-ochreous, edged posteriorly by a fuscous transverse line. Abdomen ochreous-fuscous. Legs dark bronzy-fuscous, posterior femora tinged with ochreous white. Forewings elongate-oblong, costa gently arched, hindmargin sinuate beneath apex, thence straight; dark-fuscous, mixed with ashy-grey; veins outlined with fuscous; a large suffused discal spot in middle of wing. A yellowish hind marginal streak or line, dotted with fuscous. Cilia ashy-whitish, somewhat barred with fuscous. Hindwings with hindmargin rounded; dark-fuscous; 6 and 7 stalked; a narrow yellowish hindmarginal streak hardly reaching anal angle, broadest at apex; cilia greyish-fuscous, basal half dark-fuscous, with a fine white basal line.
One specimen taken at electric light (Central Railway Station), Brisbane, Queensland, in January, near the preceding [C. stenoleuca], of which it may prove to be the female.
Other references
Xylorycta cephalochra Lower. (Cryptophaga cephalochra, Lower, Proc. Roy. Soc. S.A. l894, 90.) Male, 34 mm; antennae slightly serrate towards extremity; ciliations, 1 ¼.
Brisbane.: two specimens in October (Turner, 1898).
Xylorycta cephalochra, lower.
I have received a specimen from Cooktown, Queensland, in which veins 7 and 8 of forewings are coincident, a curious variation. (Lower, 1901).
Thymiatris cephalochra, Fig 23.8: Common, 1990
T. cephalochra, (Low.) (Fig 23.8) occurs in rainforest from Cooktown, Queensland, to the Richmond River, New South Wales. (Common, 1990).
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Thymiatris cephalochra, wing venation.
Abdomen:
Thymiatris cephalochra, ♂, genitalia, gvc13192, 19º22'S 146º26'E, 380m, 25 November 2005, Herveys Range near Townsville, collected by Graeme Cocks.
Thymiatris cephalochra, ♂, aedeagus, gvc13192, 19º22'S 146º26'E, 380m, 25 November 2005, Herveys Range near Townsville, collected by Graeme Cocks.
Food plants:
Flight period:
Distribution: New South Wales, Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks: Although this species superficially resembles Thymiatris, the mae genitalia are more typical of Cryptophasa.
However, the wing venation resembles neither of these two genera, lacking any stalking of the radial veins in the forewing.
Perhaps cephalochra deserves a genus all to itself, or perhaps it should be returned to Cryptophasa. Genetic evidence will be useful in deciding its eventual placement.