Aenetus cohici

Aenetus cohici is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Caledonia.

Aenetus cohici
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hepialidae
Genus: Aenetus
Species:
A. cohici
Binomial name
Aenetus cohici
Viette, 1961

The wingspan is 107–121 mm. There are two colour morphs. The first has a background colour of yellowish-green with pastel violet spots. The second morph has a greyish-green background colour with yellowish-green patches faintly visible as transverse rows and pastel violet spots on the costal margin. The hindwings are pale orange in the basal area, blending into orange-white over the remainder of the hindwing.[1]

The larvae have been recorded feeding on dead wood and polypore fungi. Later instars bore the wood of Nothofagus and Hibbertia species. They enter their host plant above ground level and construct a tunnel which extends into and then down the stem. The tunnel entrance is covered by a silken web containing frass.[2]

References
  1. Description of the male of the endemic New Caledonian species Aenetus cohici (Lepidoptera: Hepialidae)
  2. "Evolution of arboreal tunnelling by larvae" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-07-03. Retrieved 2012-02-07.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.