XYLORYCTIDAE: Timber Moths ⁵

Izatha austera (Meyrick, 1884). F.L. 10 mm. Endemic. Locally Common.

Habitat, seasonality and behaviour ⁶

The perfect insect appears from the middle of December until the end of January in native forest and can be attracted to light. It is extremely inconspicuous when resting on bare tree-trunks according to Hudson (1928).

Life history ⁶

The larva lives in silken tubes under the bark of dead wineberry trees (Aristotelia racemosa) during the winter months, becoming full-grown about September.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) d_kluza, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), uploaded by d_kluza
2. (c) Dougal Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dougal Townsend
3. (c) Tony Steer, all rights reserved, uploaded by Tony Steer
4. George Vernon Hudson , no known copyright restrictions (public domain), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Izatha_austera_Fig._6_Plate_XXXII_The_butterflies_(cropped).jpg
5. Adapted by Tony Steer from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izatha_austera
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
• Fauna Series of NZ 65: Izatha
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants

iNaturalist NZ Map