''Xanadoses'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

moth genus in the family

Cecidosidae Cecidosidae is a family of primitive monotrysian moths in the order Lepidoptera which have a piercing ovipositor used for laying eggs in plant tissue in which they induce galls, or they mine in bark (Davis, 1999; Hoare and Dugdale, 2003). Nine sp ...

. It contains a single species, ''Xanadoses nielseni'', which is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. ''X. nielseni'' is also known by the common name Kamahi bark scribbler. The larval host of this species is ''Weinmannia racemosa''.

Taxonomy

This genus and the species ''X. nielseni'' were first described by

Robert J. B. Hoare The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and John S. Dugdale in 2003. The species is named in honour of

Ebbe Nielsen Ebbe Schmidt Nielsen (7 June 1950 – 7 March 2001) was a Danish entomologist influential in systematics and Lepidoptera research, and an early proponent of biodiversity informatics. The journal ''Invertebrate Systematics'' was established with sig ...

. The male

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

specimen, collected as a pupa at Mount Ngongotahā, is held in the

New Zealand Arthropod Collection The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

Description

''X. nielseni'' is a small, dark coloured moth with dark metallic highlights along with pale whitish patches on its wings. The female has a wingspan of 9.5 mm while the male is slightly larger with a wingspan of 10.5 mm. The larva is coloured a white shade with a brown head and is 4.75 mm in length just prior to pupating. The pupa is light brown in colour and slender in shape.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has been collected in the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

and the

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

regions.

Behaviour

Adults have been observed on the wing in December. This species pupates inside the bark of its host tree forming a bulge in the bark at the end of a mine. The interior of the bulge is lined with silk.

Host species

The larvae of this moth mine the bark of host plants ''Weinmannia racemosa'', '' W. silvicola'', ''

Nothofagus fusca ''Nothofagus fusca'', commonly known as red beech (Māori: tawhai raunui) is a species of southern beech, endemic to New Zealand, where it occurs on both the North Island and South Island. Generally it is found on lower hills and inland valley fl ...

'', ''Myrsine salicina'', and ''

Quintinia serrata ''Quintinia serrata'', the tawheowheo, is a species of evergreen trees in the genus '' Quintinia'' endemic to New Zealand. This plant has different patterns of anthocyanins ( cyanidin 3-O-glucoside and cyanidin 3-O-galactoside Ideain, the cyani ...

,'' resulting in "scribble" patterns being formed on the bark of these trees. It has also been hypothesised that ''

Knightia excelsa ''Knightia excelsa'', commonly called rewarewa (from Māori), is an evergreen tree endemic to the low elevation and valley forests of New Zealand's North Island and Marlborough Sounds (41° S) and the type species for the genus '' Knightia''. ...

'' may also be a larval host of ''X. nielseni''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q8042877, from2=Q13936655 Cecidosidae Adeloidea genera Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 2003 Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Robert Hoare Taxa named by John Stewart Dugdale Endemic moths of New Zealand