''Cryptaspasma querula'' is a

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 ...

of the family

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...

. It 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 ...

and can be found throughout the country. This species inhabits

podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly southern hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pres ...

and broadleaf forest. The larvae consume parts of the seeds and fruits of tawa, tarairi and miro trees and are predated upon by the invasive to New Zealand

house mouse The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the rodent family Muridae, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus '' Mus''. A ...

. Larvae pupate in leaf litter under their host trees. Adults are variable in appearance and also in size. They are on the wing throughout the year and are nocturnal but are attracted to light. They can be found having flown inside houses and have also been observed resting on fences or other human made structures during the day.

Taxonomy

This species was first 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 1912 and named ''Eucosma querula''.

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the Railway Mania, railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a ...

in his 1928 book ''The butterflies and moths of New Zealand'' discussed and illustrated this species under that name. Also in 1928 Alfred Philpott studied the male genitalia of this species.

Alexey Diakonoff Alexey Nikolaievich Diakonoff (1 March 1907 – 20 September 1989), also transliterated as Alexej Nikolajewitsch Diakonoff, was a Russian–Dutch entomologist who specialised in Microlepidoptera. His parents immigrated to the Dutch East Indies ...

placed this species within the genus ''Cryptaspasma'' in 1959. The male

lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes ...

, collected in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

by George Hudson, is held at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

Description

Meyrick described the adults of this species as follows: Adults of ''C. querula'' is variable in both the appearance of the yellow markings on their wings as well as in their size. The female tends to be more plainly coloured than the male.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found throughout the country.

Habitat and hosts

This species inhabits native podocarp and broadleaf forest. The larvae feed on the fleshy

cotyledon A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow", gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...

s of ''

Beilschmiedia tawa ''Beilschmiedia tawa'', commonly known as the tawa, is a New Zealand broadleaf tree common in the central parts of the country. Tawa is often the dominant canopy tree species in lowland forests in the North Island and the north east of the Sou ...

'' seeds as well as on the

endosperm The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the Embryo#Pla ...

of the fruits of ''B. tawa,'' '' tarairi'' and miro trees. Larvae of this species has also been raised in captivity on

common oak ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It grows on soils ...

. The larvae of this species are a common food source for ''

Mus musculus The house mouse (''Mus musculus'') is a small mammal of the rodent family Muridae, characteristically having a pointed snout, large rounded ears, and a long and almost hairless tail. It is one of the most abundant species of the genus ''Mus (genu ...

''.

Behaviour

The larvae of this species pupates in the leaf litter under their host species. Adults of this species is on the wing most months of the year. Although they can be disturbed during the day, they are nocturnal and are attracted to light. They can be found inside houses due to this attraction and have also been observed resting on fences or other human made structures.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5190744 Microcorsini Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 1912 Endemic moths of New Zealand