Anatrachyntis incertulella

(Anatrachyntis incertulella)

Description

Anatrachyntis incertulella, the pandanus flower moth, is a small cosmet moth species (family Cosmopterigidae). It belongs to subfamily Cosmopteriginae. This was the first "micromoth" species to be described from Hawaiʻi. The type specimens were collected there by the 1820s Beechey expedition and described by the English entomologist Francis Walker in 1864; they are now in the British Museum of Natural History. It is found mainly in Polynesia, from the Hawaiian Islands across the Society and Marquesas Islands to the Austral Islands and Pitcairn Island. It has also been recorded on Fiji, in Queensland (and maybe elsewhere in Australia), on Okinawa and on Rodrigues; except the first locality, these seem to be fairly recent introductions or accidental finds however. The caterpillar larvae feed on Pandanus species, including Pandanus tectorius.

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class: Insecta
Order:Lepidoptera
Family:Cosmopterigidae
Genus:Anatrachyntis
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