''Crypsitricha pharotoma'' is a species of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

in the family

Tineidae Tineidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera described by Pierre André Latreille in 1810. Collectively, they are known as fungus moths or tineid moths. The family contains considerably more than 3,000 species in more than 300 genera. ...

. It was described by

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854 – 31 March 1938) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern microlepidoptera systematics. Life and work Ed ...

in 1888. This species is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 8–10 mm. The forewings are light brownish-ochreous, more or less suffused with whitish-ochreous, and with a few dark fuscous scales, as well as a rather dark fuscous elongate-triangular blotch extending along the costa from the base to before the middle, reaching about half across the wing, marked with a black spot at the apex and three black spots on the costa. There is a blackish mark in the disc before the middle, connected with this beneath the costa, followed by an obscure ochreous-whitish bar. There is sometimes a blackish mark in the disc beyond the middle. The posterior half of the costa is obscurely dotted with whitish and dark fuscous and some dark fuscous and black scales form obscure spots on the hindmargin. The hindwings are whitish-grey.

References

Moths described in 1888 Tineidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Tineidae-stub