CARPOSINIDAE ⁵

Heterocrossa rubophaga (Meyrick, 1882). F.L. 6 mm. Endemic. Common.

Habitat, seasonality and behaviour ⁶

Adults appear from February to September, peaking in April and August, hence possibly double brooded. It is uncommon in the Auckland region.

Life history ⁶

The larva feeds in the fruits of the garden raspberry and blackberry, its native foodplant is therefore the wild or (Bush lawyer). The egg is yellowish-green in colour, but changes during development to a yellowish-gold, the area under the spines becoming orange, which, as development continues, spreads till more than hall the egg is coloured.
The larva first instar larva is about 1 mm long. The head and dorsal portion of the prothorax are dark in colour, the rest of the body is whitish cream. The final instar larva is about 10 mm in length. The under surface is yellowish-green, depending on the amount of food in the alimentary tract

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Dougal Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dougal Townsend
2. (c) Grey Smith, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Grey Smith
3. (c) Tony Steer, all rights reserved, uploaded by Tony Steer
4. (c) Mike Bowie, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Mike Bowie
5. Adapted by Tony Steer from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterocrossa_rubophaga
6. (c) Tony Steer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalist NZ taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants

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