Cryptophasa pultenae Lewin, 1805
♀ - NSW, CSIRO Experimental Farm, Wilton, 6. Feb. 1971, V.J. Robinson leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
♂- NSW, Como West, 22. Dec. 2000, L.S. Willan leg. (LWC). [AMO].
♂ - NSW, Como West, 28. Nov. 1998, L.S. Willan leg. (LWC). [AMO].
♂ - NSW, 4 miles S of Gosford, 30. Mar. 1965, I.F.B. Common M.S. Upton leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
♂ - Qld, 3 miles N of Brunswick Heads, 19. Jan. 1968, I.F.B. Common leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
♀ - NSW, CSIRO Experimental Farm, Wilton, 8. Mar. 1971, V.J. Robinson leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
Cryptophasa pultenae Lewin, 1805. Prodromus Entomology. Natural History of Lepidopterous Insects of New South Wales. London : T. Bensley pp. 18 pls and text (letterpress) [14]. Syntype(s) whereabouts unknown number unknown ♂♀, [Sydney, NSW].
Cryptophasa pultenaeae Boisduval, 1832: Voyage de Découvertes de l'Astrolabe exécuté par Ordre du Roi, Pendant les Années 1826–1827–1828–1829, sous le Commandement de M.J. Dumont D'Urville. Faune entomologique de l'Océan Pacifique, avec l'illustration des insectes nouveaux recueillis pendant le Voyage. Part 1. Lépidoptères. Paris : J. Tastu pp. iv 5–267 [231].
Cryptophasa pultenae Duncan, 1852, Entomology, Exotic Moths, in Jardine, W. ed, The Naturalist’s Library, vol XXXII, 117-123 [121].
Cryptophasa pultenaeae Thon Archiv I, S. 36. [n.d.]. Zeller, 1853: Microlepédoptera [S.l. : s.n.] [352].
Cryptophasa Pultenaeae, Thnb. Walker, 1864, Tineites. List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum Vol. 30. 836-1096 pp. [incl. Index to parts 27-30] (709).
Cryptophaga pultenaeae, Lw. Meyrick, 1890: Descriptions of Australian Lepidoptera. Part I. Xyloryctidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 13: 23–81 [38].
Cryptophaga pultenaeae. Illidge, 1895: Xylorycts, or timber moths. Queensland Natural History Society Transactions, 1, 29-34.
Cryptophaga pultenaeae, Lw. Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [10].
Cryptophaga eugeniae T.P. Lucas, 1900, New Species of Queensland Lepidoptera. Proc. R. Soc. Qld. 15: 137-161 [153]. Syntype(s) SAMA number unknown ♂♀, Brisbane, Qld.
Cryptophasa pulteneae T.P. Lucas, 1900, New Species of Queensland Lepidoptera. Proc. R. Soc. Qld. 15: 137-161 [153].
Cryptophaga pultenaeae, McLeay. Walsingham and Durrant, 1900, Catalogue of Eastern and Australian Lepidoptera Heterocera in the Collection of the Oxford University Museum, Part II, Noctuina, Geometrina and Pyralidina by Colonel C. Swinhoe; Pterophoridae and Tineina by the Right Hon. Lord Walsingham, and John Hartley Durrant, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1-630 [550].
Cryptophaga eugeniae Luc. Turner, 1902: New Australian Lepidoptera, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 26, 175-207 [205].
Cryptophasa pultenaeae Lew. I.F.B. Common, Australian Moths, Jacaranda Press, 1963, 1-128 (50-54) [50-51, fig. 102].
Cryptophasa pultenae Lew. Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [320].
Cryptophasa pultenae, Lewin 1805. 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 pultenae, Lewin 1805. 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 pultenae, Lewin 1805. 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, Lewin, 1805
Ruby - Cryptophasa Pultenae. Pl. 13, Lewin 1805, pre-publication print, State Library of NSW
Fam. Bombyx Sec. Cryptophasa
Cryptophasa Pultenae. Pl. 13
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION .
Bombyx Crytophasa [sic] with silvery white wings, three black spots in the middle of the anterior, and a row of the same colour at the end. Posterior wings in the male black, in the female white, with a margin of black angular marks. Abdomen with a square mark of clear red at the base. The whole insect smooth and glossy .
THE larva of this delicate moth, which we have named from the plant, is also provident, having a dwelling, to which it conveys tender shoots of the plant its food, in the stem of which our specimen had made its retreat by boring downwards a cylindrical chamber in the centre of the stem, having the entrance arched over with a fabric of web and excrement, under which the larva having taken its food in its nightly excursions, feeds thereon during the day in secret security; where also it changes to a pupa, in February, remains in that state thirty-one days, and the moth is on the wing in March; and then inhabits forests. The female is shown at 4; the male at 3; the pupa in a section of its dwelling at 2; and the larva at 1. The plant is the Pultenoea Villosa [sic] of Willdenow.
Subsequent description, Boisduval, 1832
C. DU PULTENAEA, Pultenaeae.
Alis omnibus niveis, nitidis, punctis marginalibus nigris; anticis punctis tribus discoideis nigris (posticis maris totis nigris); thorace albo, macula dorsali coccinea.
Ailes d'un blanc de neige, brillantes, avec un rang marginal de points noirs; les supérieures ayant sur le milieu trois points noirs (inférieures du mâle toutes noires); abdomen blanc, avec une tâche dorsale écarlate.
Lewin, Prodr. ent., pl. 13, p. 14.
Elle est plus petite que les précédentes. La chenille est un peu velue, d'un brun grisâtre, avec une raie plus obscure, et une bande bleuâtre au-dessus des pattes; la tète et premier anneau sont d'un noir brun.
Elle vit sur le Pultenaea villosa de Willdenow.
Nouvelle-Hollande.
Subsequent description, Duncan, 1852
C. pultenae — wings silvery-white, the anterior pair with three small black spots In the middle and a marginal row at the extremity; hinder wings black in the male, white In the female, with a series of angular black marks at the hinder margin: abdomen with a square spot of bright red toward. the base. Expansion, male one inch [25mm]; female, one inch and seven lines [40mm]. Lewin, pl 13.
The larva bores downwards a cylindrical chamber in the centre of the stem of Pultenaea villosa, Willd., having the entrance arched over with a fabric of web and excrement, under which, having taken its food thither in its nightly excursions, it feeds during the day in secret security.
Subsequent description, Zeller, 1853
Pultenaeae Thon.
Abdominis basi supra rufa; alis ant. oblongis, punctis disci medii tribus majusculis serieque punctorum marginalium nigris; posterioribus ♂ nigris albo-ciliatis, ♀ albis, in margine postico nigro-punctatis.
Cryptophasa Pultenaeae Thon Archiv I, S. 36. Taf. III. fig. 4. .a –d .
Pultenae Lewin 1. c. p. 14. pl. 13, fig. 1—5.
Schon merklich kleiner als die vorige, zumal das Männchen.
Vaterland : Neu-Südwales. Die Raupe in den Stämmen von Pultenaea villosa, die Schabe nach einer Puppenruhe von 31 Tagen im März in Wäldern.
Subsequent description, Meyrick, 1890
Crypt. Pultenaeae, Lw.
(Cryptophasa pultenaeae, Lw., Ins. N. S. Wales).
Both sexes 26-37mm. Head, palpi, antennae, and thorax white; terminal joint of palpi 2/3 of second. Abdomen white, second segment orange-red. Legs black, ringed with white, middle and posterior tibiae white. Forewings oblong, posteriorly somewhat dilated, costa gently arched, apex obtuse, hindmargin slightly oblique, somewhat rounded; 2 from 2/3; shining snow-white; a black dot in disc at 1/3, and two others transversely placed in disc at 3/5, lower somewhat posterior; a row of small black spots along hindmargin and apical fourth of costa: cilia white. Hindwings with veins 6 and 8 [sic: should be 6 and 7] from a point; in male blackish, hindmargin white; in female shining white, sometimes with a blackish mark in disc and more or less suffused with blackish-grey; a hind marginal series of small black spots; cilia white.
Newcastle and Sydney, New South Wales; several specimens, from December to February. Larva residing in a barricaded tunnel in stems of Pultenaea villosa, carrying in leaves for food.
Synonymic description, T.P. Lucas, 1900
CRYPTOPHAGA EUGENIAE. NOV. SP.
♂ 32 - 34 mm, ♀ 38 - 42 mm. Head and palpi snow white. Antennae basal joint snow white, in ♂ stalk fuscous, pectinations rich ochreous fuscous, in ♀ black, gradually shading to white at base Thorax snow white with prominent lateral crests and petagia [sic], with a ferrous band posteriorly narrow on dorsum, but broadening on each side laterally. Abdomen in ♂ black, each segment bordered and fringed with white or grey hairs, second segment with a dorsal semi-lunar patch of orange red, in ♀ the abdomen is snow white with orange red on second segment. Legs white, with base of all tarsi black. Forewings obovate oblong, costa gently rounded, hindmargin rounded, snow white, with minute black dots. Forewings with a black [sic] in disc at one third, and two others obliquely beyond at two thirds, in ♂ a fourth spot is indicated or faintly marked in a line with and near first dot; nine or ten black dots on apical fourth of costa and along hind margin. Cilia snow white. Hindwings in ♂ black, with grey and white scales toward inner margin, costa edged with black line, with a wide costal space white. Hindwings in ♀, snow white, apex of costa and costal half of hindmargin with seven triangular black dots, indicated in ♂. Cilia in ♂ white with smoky black marks opposite veins, becoming grey to black in anal third. Cilia in ♀ white. Brisbane, feeding in Eugenia.—This species differs considerably from C. Pulteneae, Lw., with which it has been confounded. Many white species run very closely and only present fine differences to detection. This insect is larger, the males are smaller uniformly than the females; the antennae in Pulteneae are stated to be white, in this species they are rich ochreous fuscous; the thorax has in this species a ferrous band and special prominent white crests, and the abdomen of the ♂ is black, not white; all legs are white.
Other references
Cryptophasa Pultenaeae
Pultenaeae, Thnb. — Pultenae, Lewin.
a, b. Sydney. From Mr Lambert’s collection.
c. Australia. Presented by E. Doubleday, Esq.
d. Moreton Bay. From Mr Diggles’ collection.
e. Australia. (Walker, 1864).
Cryptophaga pultenaeae, Lw. (Cryptophasa Pultenaeae, Lewin, Ins. N. S. W.) Meyrick, 38. Male, 31-33 mm.; antennal pectinations, 4. Female, 32-33 mm.
Brisbane: bred by Mr. Illidge from larvae tunnelling the stems of Eugenia myrtifolia [Syzygium australe] and Eugenia Smithii [Acmena smithii]. Meyrick gives Pultenaea villosa as the food plant. (Turner, 1898).
3639. Cryptophaga pultenææ, McLeay.
Cryptophasa pultenæ, [McLeay], Lewin's Prodr. Ent. NH. Lp. Ins. NSW. 14,
PI. XIII. 1-5 (1805)l: NH. Lp. Ins. NSW. 14, PI. XIII. 1-5 (1822)2. Cryptophasa pultenææ, Thon’s Ent. Archiv, I. 36, PI. III. 4 a-d (1827)3; Z., Lin. Ent. IX. 352-3, No. 4 (1854)4; Wkr., Cat. Lp. Ins. BM. XXIX. 709 (1864)5. Cryptophaga pultenææ, Meyr., Tr. Roy. Soc. S. Austral. XIII. 38-9, No. 24 (1890)6; Trnr., Ann. Queensl. Mus., No. IV. 10, No. 18 (1897)7.
Type ♀♂. Mus. [—?—].
Larva in Pultenæa villosa 1-4, 6-7. Eugenia myrtifolia7, smithii7 II1-3. Imago XII-II6, III1-4.
Hab. Australia5. Queensland — Moreton Bay5, Brisbane7. N. S. Wales — Sydney5-6, Newcastle6.
Mus. Oxf. One specimen ‘New Holland’, probably N. S. Wales. [Drnt. Det. 108 (1893). (Walsingham and Durrant, 1900).
Cryptophasa eugeniae, Luc.
(Proc. Roy. Soc., Queensland, 1899, p. 153.)
In the “Annals of the Queensland Museum,” No. iv., p. 10 (1897) I wrongly identified this species with C. pultenaeae, Lewin, but now recognise its distinctness. It is closely allied to C. epadelpha, Meyr., which, however, always lacks the discal dots on the forewing. (Turner, 1902).
Cryptophasa pultenae, fig. 102, Common, 1963
The latter [Pultenaea] is also the food plant of C. pultenaeae Lew. (102, male 1.4 inches). (Common, 1963).
Cryptophasa pultenae, fig. 14, Common, 1990.
Strongly dimorphic species include ... C. pultenae Lew. ... Both sexes of C. pultenae and C. epadelpha have white fore wings with a series of terminal black spots; in the female the hind wings are also white with black terminal spots, but in the male they are black. C. pultenae occurs in coastal southern Queensland and New South Wales, where the larvae have been recorded boring in Pultenaea villosa (Fabaceae) Syzygium australis, Acmena smithii and guava (Pisidium) (all Myrtaceae). (Common, 1990).
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Cryptophasa pultenae, ♂, head, IM09-0295, Imbil, Queensland
Thorax:
Cryptophasa pultenae, wing venation; this species with dotted wings has more or less identical venation to C. epadelpha, which has plain white wings.
Abdomen:
Cryptophasa pultenae, ♂ genitalia, IM08-2578, Imbil, Queensland
Cryptophasa pultenae, aedeagus, IM08-2578, Imbil, Queensland
Food plants: Larva boring in stem. Larval foodplants: Pultenaea villosa (Fabaceae), Acmena smithii, Backhousia myrtifolia, Syzygium australis, introduced Psidium guava (Myrtaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period: November, December, January, February, March.
Distribution: New South Wales, Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks: C. epadelpha and C. pultenae are more or less notionally separate species, one with dots on the wings, one without. However, there may be more than two species in this complex, and they may or may not be identifiable by the presence or absence of dots on the wings. Studies of regional variations and local populations may eventually provide a more complete picture, evidently more complicated than a simple but convenient division based on wing patternation. Further investigation is necessary.
Alternatively, it is possible that they may be different forms of the same species.