- Animals
- ›Arthropods
- ›Hexapods
- ›Insects
- ›Winged and Once-winged Insects
- ›Butterflies and Moths
- ›Fairy Moths and Allies
- ›Cecidosidae
- ›Xanadoses
Kamahi Bark Scribbler
Xanadoses nielseni
Xanadoses is a monotypic moth genus in the family Cecidosidae. It contains a single species, Xanadoses nielseni, which is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the North and South Islands. X. nielseni is also known by the common name Kamahi bark scribbler. The larval host of this species is Pterophylla sylvicola, Pterophylla sylvicola, Nothofagus fusca, Myrsine salicina, and Quintinia serrata. The larvae mine the bark of the tree leaving "scribble" patterns in the bark.
From the article Xanadoses on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
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.
Range & habitat
This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has been collected in the North and South Islands including in the Bay of Plenty and the Nelson regions.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
What it does
Adults have been observed on the wing from August to 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.
Wikipedia: “Behaviour”
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Xanadoses nielseni in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 398770.