Cryptophasa pultenae

Cryptophasa pultenae Lewin, 1805
(erroneously : Cryptophaga pultenaeae)
XYLORYCTIDAE, GELECHIOIDEA

Cryptophasa pultenae
Pl. 13, Lewin 1805, pre-publication print,
Courtesy of the State Library of NSW.

The Caterpillar of this species has been found boring into various plants, including:

Guava ( Psidium guajava, MYRTACEAE ),

Lilly Pilly ( Syzygium smithii, MYRTACEAE ),

Brush Cherry ( Syzygium paniculatum, MYRTACEAE ), and

Bush Peas ( Pultenaea villosa, FABACEAE ).

Male

The male and female adult moths are different.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The female moth has white wings with a number of dark dots near the middle of each forewing, and a row of dark dots along each margin.

The males have similar forewings, but the hindwings are black. The adult moths have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

The species is found in

Further reading :

Ian F.B. Common,
Moths of Australia,
Melbourne University Press, 1990, fig. 23.14, p. 230.

Peter Hendry,
Mt Glorious- Saturday 28th November 2009,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 56 (March 2010), pp. 32-33,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club.

Ian McMillan,
Cryptophasa pultenae, Xyloryctine Moths of Australia,
Blog, Friday, August 27, 2010.

Australian
Australian Butterflies

Australian
Australian Moths

(updated 4 December 2004, 17 April 2013, 15 August 2020)