Agathiphaga_vitiensis
Agathiphaga vitiensis
Species of moth
| Fiji kauri moth | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Agathiphagidae |
| Genus: | Agathiphaga |
| Species: | A. vitiensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Agathiphaga vitiensis | |
Agathiphaga vitiensis,[2] or the Fiji kauri moth,[3] is a moth of the family Agathiphagidae. It is found from Fiji to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.
The length of the forewings is about 4 mm. The forewings are long, dorsally dark greyish-brown with fine white hairs, a light yellowish-brown patch on the anal area and a smaller patch of similar colour on the posterior margin.[1]
The larvae feed on Agathis vitiensis. The full-grown larva is about 6 mm long and 2.5 mm wide. It is stoutly built and not flattened. They are yellowish in colour.[1]
A. vitiensis, like its relative A. queenslandensis, possesses ten different types of sensilla, which include: Bohm’s bristles, Chaetica I and II, Squamiformia, Trichodea, Biforked basiconica, short basiconica, and Coeloconica I, II, and III. Both sexes of A. vitiensis possess all ten types of these sensilla, and the size of each is relatively similar in size with the exception of Chaetica I (longer in females by an average of 12.8 µm) and Trichodea (longer in males by an average of 7.8 µm).
- Dumbleton, Lionel Jack (January 1952). "A new genus of seed-infesting micropterygid moths" (PDF). Pacific Science. 6: 23. Retrieved 2011-10-18.
- Faucheux, Michel J. (January 1990). "Antennal sensilla in adult Agathiphaga vitiensis dumbl. and A. queenslandensis dumbl. (Lepidoptera : Agathiphagidae)". International Journal of Insect Morphology and Embryology. 19 (5–6): 257–268. doi:10.1016/0020-7322(90)90011-d. ISSN 0020-7322.
- "Agathiphaga vitiensis (Fiji kauri moth)". Natural History Museum. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
- Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Agathiphaga vitiensis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum.
