Illidgea Turner, 1898
Illidgea Turner, 1898, The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum 4: 1–32 [29]. Type species: Cryptophaga epigramma Meyrick, 1890 by monotypy.
Illidgea Turner, 1897, junior jubjective synonym of Phthonerodes Meyrick, 1890 [Cryptophasidae]. A list of generic names used for Microlepidoptera. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture of India, 11: 1-244 [117, 175].
Illidgea Turner. Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [229].
Illidgea Turner, 1898. Common, in Nielsen, Edwards, & Rangsi, 1996, Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia. Monographs on Australian Lepidoptera, 4: i-xiv, 1-529 & CD-ROM [87].
Illidgea Turner, 1898. B. Pitkin and P. Jenkins, Butterflies and Moths of the World: Generic Names and their Type-species, 2004. World Wide Web electronic publication. http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/research/projects/butmoth/ [accessed 22 April 2010]
Illidgea Turner, 1898. 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, Turner 1898
ILLIDGEA, n. g.
Head with appressed scales; ocelli absent; tongue moderate. Antennae moderate, in male rather stout, not ciliated; basal joint moderate, without pecten. Labial palpi moderately long, curved, ascending; second joint with appressed scales; terminal joint much shorter than second, acute. Maxillary palpi very short. Thorax smooth. Abdomen rather stout. Posterior tibiae densely rough-haired above and beneath. Forewings with vein 1 long-furcate towards base, 2 from 3/5, 3 from angle, 7 and 8 stalked, 7 to hindmargin, 11 from ¼. Hindwings over 1, oblong-ovate; towards base below median, and towards inner-margin densely clothed with long hairs; 3 and 4 short-stalked, 6 and 7 separate but closely approximated, 8 connected with cell at a point near base.
Distinguished from Xylorycta and Lichenaula by the antennae of the male. I have great pleasure in naming this genus after my friend Mr. R. Illidge, to whom our knowledge of this group owes so much.
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Thorax:
Abdomen:
Distribution: Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks:
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Illidgea aethalodes Turner, 1902
Illidgea aethalodes, ♀ - NT, 5 km NW of Batchelor, 8. Jun. 1973, E.D. Edwards leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
Illidgea aethalodes, ♂ - Qld, Townsville, 14. Oct. 1900, F.P. Dodd leg. Paratype. (ANIC). [AMO].
Illidgea aethalodes Turner, 1902. New Australian Lepidoptera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 26: 175–207 [199]. Syntype(s) BMNH number unknown ♂♀, Townsville, Qld.
Illidgea aethalodes 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].
Lichenaula aethalodes Turner, 1902 (Phthonerodes). 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 22 April 2010].
Illidgea aethalodes 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 17 June 2010].
Original description, Turner 1902
Illidgea aethalodes n. sp .
Male and female, 22-26 mm. Head, thorax, and palpi dark grey mixed with whitish. Antennae dark fuscous. Abdomen whitish-grey or grey. Legs white, irrorated and annulated with dark fuscous; posterior pair mostly white. Forewings broad, oblong, costa rather strongly arched at, base, thence straight, apex rectangular, hindmargin straight, slightly sinuate, not oblique, rounded beneath, inner margin strongly curved at base; dark grey mixed with whitish, markings black; a strong line from base of costa. along basal part of inner margin; a fine transverse streak from costa before middle, not reaching inner margin; this is preceded by two shorter streaks from costa, which are connected in disc with each other and with basal line; an inwardly oblique streak from costa at three-fourths, rather broad on costa, narrowing, and reaching to little beyond middle of disc; a. fine erect, streak, succeeded by a white shade, from before anal angle, bent slightly outwards in disc;, so that it passes well posteriorly to costal streak; some fine blackish lines on posterior veins; a fine blackish hindmarginal line; cilia dark grey mixed with whitish. Hindwings as broad as forewings, hindmargin rounded; grey; in male whitish towards base, in female wholly grey; cilia grey-whitish with a darker line at one-third.
Unlike I. epigramma, Meyr., this species appears to be very constant in its markings. From the· former species it is best distinguished by the posterior line being broken into two separate streaks.
Townsville, Queensland, in September and October; a series bred by Mr. F .P. Dodd.
Types in Coll. Walsingham.
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Thorax:
Illidgea aethalodes, wing venation, IM09-0304, Imbil, Queensland
Abdomen:
Illidgea aethalodes,♂genitalia, IM07-0224, 26.44ºS 152.66E, 90 m, 8 March 1002, Imbil, QLD.
Illidgea aethalodes, clasper. IM07-0224.
Illidgea aethalodes, uncus and gnathos. IM07-0224.
Illidgea aethalodes, anellus, saccus and juxta. IM07-0224.
Illidgea aethalodes, female genitalia, IM06-0729 (BOLD:AAK4171). Dissected by Patrick Strutzenberger. ©BOLD.
Illidgea aethalodes, signum, IM06-0729
Food plants:
Flight period: June, October.
Distribution: Northern Territory, Queensland. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks:
Illidgea epigramma (Meyrick, 1890)
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Illidgea epigramma,♂ - Qld, Brisbane (ANIC). [AMO].
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Illidgea epigramma,♂ - Qld, Bramston Beach, 6 miles E of Babinda, 20. Oct. 1967, R. Dobson leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
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Illidgea epigramma,♀ - Qld, 16 km WbyN of Ussher Point Lat. 11' 07'' S Long. 142' 39'' E, 18. Oct. 1996, P. Zborowski T. Weir leg. (ANIC). [AMO].
+Toowoomba+Qld.jpg)
Illidgea epigramma, Toowoomba, Qld. (ANIC) [AMO]
Illidgea epigramma, QM
Cryptophaga epigramma Meyrick, 1890, Descriptions of Australian Lepidoptera. Part I. Xyloryctidae. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 13: 23–81 [26]. Holotype BMNH ♀, Mt Lofty, SA.
Xylorycta epigramma, Meyr. Lower, 1894: New Australian Heterocera. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 18: 77-113 [91].
Cryptophaga epigramma Meyr. Lower, 1896: A catalogue of Victorian Heterocera. Part xix. The Victorian Naturalist, 12: 149-152 [149].
Illidgea epigramma, Meyr. Turner, 1898. The Xyloryctidae of Queensland. Ann. Qd Mus. 4: 1–32
Illidgea epigramma Meyr. Walsingham, 1898: Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London, vii-xii.
Cryptophaga confundens T.P. Lucas, 1902. New species of Queensland Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 27: 246–251 [248]. Syntype(s) SAMA number unknown ♂♀, Brisbane, Qld.
Phthonerodes epigramma, M. [Cryptophasidae]. Fletcher, T. B., 1929, A list of generic names used for Microlepidoptera. Memoirs of the Department of Agriculture of India, 11: 1-244 [117, 175].
Illidgea epigramma, (Meyr.). Common, Australian Moths, Jacaranda Press, 1963, 1-128 (50-54) [52-53, fig 106].
Illidgea epigramma, (Meyr.). Common, 1990, Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press. 227-230 [229].
Illidgea epigramma, (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 [87].
Illidgea epigramma, (Meyrick, 1890). (Cryptophasa confundens ( T.P. Lucas, 1902) as junior subjective synonym). 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 September 2019].
Cryptophasa confundens (T.P. Lucas, 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 September 2019 . [Synonymy not noted].
Illidgea epigramma, (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 17 June 2010].
Original decription, Meyrick 1890
Crypt. epigramma, n. sp.
Female 34mm Head, antennae, and thorax dark fuscous. Palpi whitish, irrorated with dark fuscous. Abdomen dark-grey, mixed with orange-reddish towards base of segments. Legs dark fuscous, apex of joints whitish, posterior tibiae grey-whitish. Forewings oblong, costa moderately arched on basal half, thence straight, apex obtuse, hindmargin sinuate beneath apex, not oblique, rounded beneath; 2 from 2/3; dark ashy fuscous; veins more or less distinctly marked with fine black lines; a narrow blackish streak along basal third of inner margin; a fine transverse black line from ¼ of costa, terminated by median vein; a second similar line from costa before middle, reaching ¾ across wing: cilia dark ashy fuscous. Hindwings with vein 6 and 7 from a point; fuscous, darker towards hindmargin; cilia fuscous-whitish, with a dark fuscous subbasal line.
Mount Lofty, South Australia; one specimen taken by Mr. E. Guest.
Subsequent description, Turner 1898
Illidgea epigramma, Meyr. (Cryptophaga epigramma, Meyrick, 31; Xylorycta epigramma, Lower, Proc. Roy. Soc. S.A. 1894,
Male, 26-32 mm. Female, 30-40 mm. A very variable species. The variation consists partly in the greater distinctness and number of transverse black lines, in particular one from the costa at 2/3 to before anal angle, angulated in disc, is often present; partly also in the presence of conspicuous squarish whitish blotches in middle and at anal angle. A very distinct variety has a conspicuous longitudinal black streak from first transverse line to hindmargin.
Brisbane; Mr. Illidge has found the larvae abundantly on the trunks, or larger branches, of several species of Eucalyptus, usually the young wood on the edge of a fractured branch, or other injury. Also three specimens from Charters Towers, bred by Mr Dodd. These are much smaller (23-26 mm.) than the Brisbane types, and have paler hind wings.
Synonymic description, T.P. Lucas 1902
Cryptophaga confundens, n. sp.
♂♀. 28-45 mm. Head grey, mottled with slaty-grey and light fuscous. Palpi slaty-grey, first and second joints lighter on upper side. Antennae dark grey or black, with fine grey annulations. Thorax grey, diffused with slaty-grey and darker slate-bluish dots. Abdomen fuscous-grey, freely splashed with whitish-grey and black, in a band along base of each segment, but metallic-coppery dusted with silver hairs on free half of segments; in some specimens the basal band is crossed by rich black lines edged with grey or white. Legs woolly-grey, with rich blackish-fuscous bands. Forewings oblong, costa gently arched, hindmargin slightly concave in costal half, rounded on inner half; vein 2 from before ½; grey, more or less diffused with slaty-grey (and in some specimens sparingly with red coppery tint), with white scales, and richly and variously marked with rich black bars and lines; a rich black band at base, more or less constant and becoming more definite and constant along inner margin to ¼, a rich band from middle of base obliquely toward costa, thinning out or suffusing with another from ¼ to before ½; a band transversely from 3/5 costa to within ¼ inner margin opposite ½; half way between this line and base of wing is an irregular more or less parallel line, in some specimens stopping short, in others running irregularly to inner margin, and in others one or two other irregular lines still nearer the base of wing; a conspicuous wavy zigzag band from costa to 7/8 inner margin prominently angled outwards before and over middle, and thence sending a line at an angle towards base of wing; a rich wide band of black in some specimens along median fold, in others this is absent; a suffusion of white beyond outer transverse line, shaded more or less towards costa with slaty-grey, in some specimens absent, in others only as a lunar mark over inner half of wing; a white zigzag subhindmarginal line becoming lost before inner margin, and in many specimens altogether absent: cilia grey, lined with black and fuscous. Hindwings fuscous, lighter towards the base; cilia light buff, fuscous at base.
Brisbane; in stumps and second growth of felled Eucalypts.
A most variable species. Allied to C. epigramma, Meyr.
Other references
Xylorycta epigramma, Meyr.
Cryptophaga epigramma, Meyr., Tr. Roy. Soc., S.A., p. 31, 1890.
Mr. R. Illidge having bred the male of this species, I am able to place it in the correct genus. The Brisbane Museum possesses a curious and well-marked variety, posterior two-thirds of forewing occupied by a large white patch, which, however, does not reach the inner margin.
The specimen was taken at Albion, near Brisbane, in December. (Lower, 1894).
C. epigramma,* Meyr. [loc. cit., 31, 1889).
Melbourne ( ? Sandringham).
* note. — No. 627, epigramma, is referable to Xylorycta. (Lower, 1896).
Illidgea epigramma, fig. 106, Common 1963
The larva of Illidgea epigramma ( Meyr. ) (106, male 1.5 inches) feeds in young Eucalyptus stems. (Common, 1963).
Illidgea epigramma, Fig. 23.11: Common, 1990
I. epigramma (Meyr). (Fig. 23.11), one of three species in Illidgea Turner, is extremely variable and has both a coastal and a tableland distribution from the Atherton Tableland, Queensland, to central New South Wales. The larvae bore in smaller stems and branches of Eucalyptus, especially coppice growth and regeneration after damage, usually ringbarking the stem at the entrance to the tunnel, causing the upper part of the tree to die. Pupation occurs in the larval tunnel. (Common, 1990).
Diagnosis:
Description:
Head:
Illidgea epigramma, ♀, head. IM08-2828, Imbil, QLD.
Thorax:
I. epigramma, wing venation
Abdomen:
Illidgea epigramma, ♂ genitalia, IM08-2736, 26.44ºS 152.66E, 90m, 1 December 2008, Imbil, QLD.
Illidgea epigramma, clasper, IM08-2736.
Illidgea epigramma, uncus and gnathos, IM08-2736.
Illidgea epigramma, anellus, saccus and juxta, IM08-2736.
Illidgea epigramma, female genitalia. IM07-0334 (BOLD:AAE2680). Dissected by Patrick Strutzenberger, ©BOLD.
Illidgea epigramma, signum. IM07-0334.
Immature stages:
Food plants: Larva boring in stem. Larval foodplants: Eucalyptus maculata, Eucalyptus saligna, Eucalyptus sp. (Myrtaceae). (Edwards, 2003).
Flight period: October.
Distribution: Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia. Endemic. (Edwards, 2003).
Remarks: A very variable species, which often looses forewing scales.
Page updated 17 September 2019.