Cryptophasa albacosta Lewin, 1805
Small Fruit Tree Borer
 (one synonym : Cryptophasa albocosta Scott, 1864)
XYLORYCTIDAE,   GELECHIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


drawing by Harriet and Helena Scott,
Australian Lepidoptera, Volume 1 (1864), Plate 3,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Australian Museum.

This Caterpillar is pale grey with a series of dark red rings between segments. The head is black, the thorax is red with white markings, and the tail plate is red. The caterpillar bores a hole into the branch of a tree, and emerges at night to drag leaves into the borehole which are consumed at leisure. It creates a silky pile of frass at the borehole entrance.


drawing by John William Lewin,
Prodromus Entomology (1805), Plate 11,
image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Cornell University Library.

It has been found feeding on various trees, including :

  • Christmas Bush ( Callicoma gummiferum, CUNIONIACEAE ),
  • Old Man Banksia ( Banksia serrata, PROTEACEAE ),
  • Apricot ( Prunus, ROSACEAE ),
  • Poplar ( Populus, SALICACEAE ), and
  • Tamarisk ( Tamarix, TAMARICACEAE ).


    drawing by John William Lewin    ,
    Prodromus Entomology (1805), Plate 11,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Cornell University Library.

    The caterpillar grows to a length of up to 5 cms. The caterpillar pupates in its borehole.


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Larney Grenfell, Witta, Queensland)

    The adult moth has fawn forewings that each have line of dark dots along the margin, a dark spot and a variable ear-shaped mark near the middle, and white areas along the costa.


    female, drawing by John William Lewin    ,
    Prodromus Entomology (1805), Plate 11,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Cornell University Library.

    The hindwings are black fading to white at the margin. The thorax is white, and the abdomen is black with white hairs on the last segment.


    female
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The female moths have threadlike antennae. The females have a wingspan of about 5 cms.


    male, drawing by John William Lewin    ,
    Prodromus Entomology (1805), Plate 11,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Cornell University Library.

    The males have feathery antennae. The males have a wingspan of about 3 cms.


    male, drawing by Harriet and Helena Scott    ,
    Australian Lepidoptera, Volume 1 (1864), Plate 3,
    image courtesy of Biodiversity Heritage Library, digitized by Australian Museum.

    The species is found in :

  • Queensland
  • New South Wales,
  • Victoria,
  • Tasmania, and
  • South Australia.


    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Graeme Cocks, Townsville, Queensland)

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby and Penny Olsen.
    A Flutter of Butterflies,
    National Library of Australia, 2011, p. 98.

    Ian F.B. Common,
    Moths of Australia,
    Melbourne University Press, 1990, Pl. 6.3, p. 230.

    John William Lewin,
    Prodromus Entomology,
    Natural History of Lepidopterous Insects of New South Wales,
    London : T. Bensley (1805), p. 12, and also Plate 11.

    Ian McMillan,
    Cryptophasa albacosta, Xyloryctine Moths of Australia,
    Blog, Tuesday, September 21, 2010.

    Harriet, Helena, and Alexander W. Scott,
    Australian Lepidoptera,
    Australian Lepidoptera and their Transformations,
    Volume 1 (1864), pp. 8-9, and also Plate 3.

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    (updated 4 May 2011, 4 May 2019, 8 September 2020, 4 September 2022)