Lobesia in Australia
Lobesia are a difficult group in Australia. The following are the original descriptions for the various species (not including undescribed species on BOLD Taxonomy). These descriptions have been modified to modern language in the hopes that this will help people to identify their images to species level (for example using the word 'band' instead of the word 'fascia'. There does appear to be character differences between each of the species, which should allow for an effective key to be developed.
Cnephasia arescophanes n. sp. [Lobesia arescophanes]
♀, 12 mm. Head and thorax brownish. Palpi 2; brownish. Antennae pale brownish. Abdomen grey. Forewings with costa gently arched, apex sub-rectangular, termen straight, slightly oblique; grey with brown markings; basal patch large, posterior edge angled, grey with brown transverse lines; a narrow band from mid-costa to 3/5th dorsum; a series of costal marks; a circular subterminal spot connected by slender lines with tornus and mid-termen; a dark brown apical dot; cilia grey. Hindwings and cilia pale grey.
North Queensland.
Capua discotypa, Steriphotis extrusana, Grapholita extrusana n. sp.
[Lobesia extrusana]
♀, 12 - 16 mm. Head and thorax brown (fuscous). Palpi 3; brown (fuscous). Thorax dorsally suffused with dark fuscous. Antennae pale brownish, with narrow blackish rings. Legs whitish; anterior and middle tibiae and tarsi fuscous, with ochreous-whitish annulations. Forewings elongate, posteriorly dilated, costa straight, towards apex gently arched, apex rounded (obtuse), termen slightly rounded; brown-whitish, closely set with fine fuscous transverse lines and some dark-fuscous irroration; costa and dorsum finely marked with dark-fuscous; basal patch slightly darker, forming a suffused dark fuscous spot on dorsum towards base, outer edge angulated near costa; a strongly curved anteriorly convex blackish-fuscous streak rising from dorsum beyond middle, extending 2/3rd across wing, its extremity strongly curved over posteriorly; a small slightly darker spot on middle of costa; a large fuscous apical patch, becoming darker fuscous anteriorly, its edge running from 2/3rd of costa to tornus, including two pairs of whitish costal marks, a whitish dot on termen above middle, and some indistinct pale markings towards apex: cilia rather dark fuscous, with rows of whitish points. Hindwings dark fuscous; towards base thinly scaled; cilia whitish-fuscous, with darker sub-basal line.
Queensland.
Steriphotis peltophora [Lobesia peltophora]
♂ ♀ 12 - 13 mm. Head light fuscous. Palpi fuscous mixed with dark fuscous, tip whitish. Thorax light fuscous sprinkled with white, anteriorly, and posteriorly mixed with dark fuscous and blackish. Forewings elongate, posteriorly dilated, costa hardly arched, apex obtuse, termen slightly rounded, somewhat oblique: whitish-fuscous with bluish-violet iridescence, with some scattered dark fuscous markings; costa and
dorsum marked with dark fuscous, costa with pairs of whitish marks: markings brown partially edged and marked with black: a narrow basal band, widest on dorsum; a straight slightly oblique transverse streak about 1/3rd, hardly reaching dorsum, less developed in ♂; central band well-marked, little oblique, moderate, narrowed towards costa, posterior edge prominent or angulated in middle ; a small spot on costa at 2/3rd, and one at apex; a rounded blotch before termen in middle, connected with middle of termen, and with a suffused striga or undefined branch running to tornus: cilia fuscous with obscure indications of violet-whitish bars. Hind-wings fuscous, thinly scaled towards base, darker posteriorly and on veins; cilia whitish-fuscous, with fuscous subbasal line.
Queensland: Brisbane.
Loaschiza physophora [Lobesia physophora]
♂ ♀, 10 – 14 mm. Head, thorax, antennae, and abdomen ochreous-fuscous. Palpi whitish, beneath fuscous. Face whitish. Legs fuscous, anterior coxae dark fuscous.
Forewings elongate, moderate, costa faintly wavy in middle, termen obliquely rounded; ochreous-fuscous; 3 leaden-metallic spots on inner margin, first spot at 1/6th from base reaching half across wing, preceded by a waved narrow oblique dark fuscous line from costa near base to inner margin at 1/6; second spot before middle, somewhat triangular, reaching more than half across wing, anterior edge dentate, dentation filled with blackish and preceded by an oblique clear whitish line; a similar line along posterior edge of spot; third spot small, erect, elongate, just before anal angle; a sharply defined oblique black streak from costa to middle of wing, posteriorly edged with leaden-metallic, becoming wavy outwards at termination, sinuation filled in with black, sometimes continued as a fine whitish line to anterior edge of third leaden spot; ground colour between streak and triangular spot on inner margin more ochreous; a very large space of light fuscous between sinuation and termen, encircled by a whitish-ochreous ring, which almost touches a similar blackish centred very small ring just below apex; 7 pairs of whitish, costal stripes, first two pairs just above triangular patch; cilia ochreous-fuscous. Hindwings with termen in male strongly wavy in middle, in female rounded; grey-
whitish, very thinly scaled in male, dark fuscous in female.
Queensland.
Byrsoptera xylistis, n.sp. [Lobesia xylistis]
♂ ♀, 8 - 10 mm. Head whitish-ochreous, thorax, palpi, and antennae light fuscous. Abdomen dark fuscous. Legs fuscous-whitish. Forewings moderate, costa hardly
arched, termen obliquely rounded; light fuscous, finely irrorated with darker fuscous; costa shortly striped with fuscous; 3 moderately oblique fuscous bands, first band close to base, not reaching inner margin; second band at 1/4 of costa to 1/4 of inner margin, continued to inner margin below middle as a fine line; third band entire, from middle of costa to beyond middle of inner margin, with a strong projection outwards in middle; an erect fuscous triangular spot on inner margin at anal angle, indicating posterior extremity of a fourth band; a short oblique fuscous spot at anal angle ; a small fuscous subapical spot; a fine fuscous line along upper half of termen; cilia greyish-fuscous, at base ochreous fuscous. Hindwings with costa strongly arched in
middle; pale greyish, thinly scaled; cilia light fuscous. A neatly marked insect and easily recognised.
Queensland.
Polychrosis transtrifera, n. sp. [Lobesia transtrifera]
♀. 11 mm. Head, palpi, thorax brownish-ochreous. Forewings elongate-triangular, costa almost straight, termen rounded, rather oblique; brownish-ochreous, largely covered by irregular anastomosing ochreous-whitish transverse stripes rising from pairs of whitish costal stripes, between these with dark fuscous irroration forming irregular stripes; markings brown sprinkled blackish on edges; central band rather narrow, little oblique, narrowed on costa, posterior edge with long abrupt evenly broad subtruncate projection just below middle; a subquadrate pre-tornal spot; three
spots on costa posteriorly and a round one at apex; a nearly evenly broad slightly curved band blotch from beneath second of these costal spots to termen below middle, pointed above: cilia light brownish, with obscure bars of darker fuscous mixture. Hindwings grey, darker posteriorly; cilia light grey, a darker subbasal
shade.
Queensland: Brisbane.
