Carposina iophaea
Encyclopedia
Carposina iophaea is a moth
of the Carposinidae
family. It is endemic to New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is 18–19 mm. The head, palpi, and thorax are dark fuscous irrorated with whitish. The abdomen is grey, while the two basal segments are whitish-ochreous. The forewings are elongate, narrow, the costa gently arched, the apex round-pointed and the termen almost straight. They are dark fuscous irrorated with whitish, sometimes more or less mixed with pale ochreous. There is a series of small dark spots along the costa. The hindwings are grey.
The larvae feed on seeds of Prumnopitys taxifolia
. There is one larva per seed. In the late spring of the year following fertilisation, the contents of many immature seeds of the host plant are eaten and these seeds fall to the ground. As the seeds remaining on the tree increase in size, predation and shedding of damaged seeds continue. By February of the
following year, just before the outer tissues of the remaining seeds turn black and juicy, the larvae cease eating their way into the seeds, presumably because the maturing inner coats are too thick and hard. They then eat the sugar-rich outer wall tissues before pupating.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Carposinidae
Carposinidae
Carposinidae, the "fruitworm moths" is a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. These moths are narrower winged than Copromorphidae, with less rounded forewing tips. Males often have conspicuous patches of scales on either surface...
family. It is endemic to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is 18–19 mm. The head, palpi, and thorax are dark fuscous irrorated with whitish. The abdomen is grey, while the two basal segments are whitish-ochreous. The forewings are elongate, narrow, the costa gently arched, the apex round-pointed and the termen almost straight. They are dark fuscous irrorated with whitish, sometimes more or less mixed with pale ochreous. There is a series of small dark spots along the costa. The hindwings are grey.
The larvae feed on seeds of Prumnopitys taxifolia
Prumnopitys taxifolia
Prumnopitys taxifolia is an endemic New Zealand coniferous tree that grows on the North Island and South Island. It also occurs on Stewart Island/Rakiura but is uncommon there....
. There is one larva per seed. In the late spring of the year following fertilisation, the contents of many immature seeds of the host plant are eaten and these seeds fall to the ground. As the seeds remaining on the tree increase in size, predation and shedding of damaged seeds continue. By February of the
following year, just before the outer tissues of the remaining seeds turn black and juicy, the larvae cease eating their way into the seeds, presumably because the maturing inner coats are too thick and hard. They then eat the sugar-rich outer wall tissues before pupating.