''Lichenaula laniata'' 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 ...

in the family

Xyloryctidae Xyloryctidae is a family of moths contained within the superfamily Gelechioidea described by Edward Meyrick in 1890. Most genera are found in the Indo-Australian region. While many of these moths are tiny, some members of the family grow to a wing ...

. 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 1890. It is found in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where it has been recorded from

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. 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 15–18 mm. The forewings are ochreous brown, irrorated (sprinkled) with dark brown and with a very broad white streak, pointed at both ends and along the costa from the base to beyond the middle. The inner margin is slenderly white towards the base, with an irregular white blotch along the inner margin from one-fourth to three-fourths. Its upper anterior angle forming a projection towards the base along the fold, almost confluent with the costal streak, its upper posterior angle forming a projection upwards, reaching halfway across the wing. There is a dark fuscous dot in the disc at two-thirds and a white transverse line, acutely angulated outwards in the middle, from three-fourths of the costa to the inner margin before the anal angle, the angulation confluent with a suffused white spot on the hindmargin, and sometimes also filled up anteriorly with a white suffusion. There is also a white hindmarginal line. The hindwings are whitish grey.

References

Lichenaula Moths described in 1890 {{Xyloryctidae-stub