1. Lebendfotos

2. Biologie

Braby (2026: 2) stellte zusammen: "The third species, Croitana croites, occurs in south-western Western Australia and is geographically variable (Graham 1988), with two distinct phenotypic forms (Braby 2000). Croitana croites ‘pale form’ typically occurs in semi-arid eucalypt or Acacia open-woodland on sand-dunes where the larval food plants A. elegantissima and A. platychaeta grow (Braby 2000; Graham 1988; Williams, Williams, & Atkins 1997). In contrast, C. croites ‘dark form’ is restricted to mesic coastal heathlands where the larval food plant Austrostipa flavescens (Labill.) S.W.L. Jacobs & J. Everett (Poaceae) grows on sand-dunes (Williams, Williams, & Atkins 1997)." Diese "dark form" wurde jetzt in den Artstatus erhoben: C. flavescens.

(Autor: Erwin Rennwald)

3. Weitere Informationen

3.1. Etymologie (Namenserklärung)

Braby (2026: 19) erläuterte seine Namenswahl: "The name flavescens is the Latin word for yellow, and it refers to the rich yellow ground colour on the underside, which is one of the distinctive features of the taxon. The epithet flavescens is also the name of its larval food plant, Austrostipa flavescens."

3.2. Andere Kombinationen

Cyclopides croites Hewitson, 1874 [Originalkombination]
Hesperilla croites (Hewitson, 1874)
Astictopterus croites (Hewitson, 1874)
Trapezites croites (Hewitson, 1874)
Mesodina croites (Hewitson, 1874)

3.3. Taxonomie und Faunistik

Nach langem Hin-und-Her trennte Braby (2026) die bisherige "southern population" oder "dark form" von Croitana croites als eigene Art ab: C. flavescens. Er führt eine lange Liste von Unterschieden in Zeichnung und Färbung und insbesondere bei den Genitalien an, die die Trennung erklären helfen. Und die Idee, dass es sich hier um eine eigene Art handeln könnte, war ja nich neu. Braby (2026: 19) erklärte: "Williams et al. (1997, p. 45) first pointed out that the phenotypic forms of C. croites may represent different species, stating ‘Genitalic morphology, although remarkably variable, suggest that these forms may not be conspecific.’ Croitana flavescens was first discovered by F.L. Whitlock (1860–1953), who collected a large series of specimens from Bunbury between 1929 and 1932 that were sent to G.A. Waterhouse, whose collection is now incorporated in AMS (Waterhouse 1932a). Other specimens from this series, and in years subsequent to 1932 collected by Whitlock, have since made their way to the ANIC, NMV and SAMA. A total of 590 specimens of this hitherto undescribed species were examined in seven museums (ANIC, AMS, NMV, SAMA, WAM, ZSM and QM)."

Wichtig: "The published DNA sequences for C. croites ‘dark form’ (GenBank isolate BN005459 accession numbers: OK540216.1, OK540143.1, OK540071.1, OK539997.1, OK539924.1) based on specimen voucher number ANIC AAEW-17-A011 by Toussaint et al. (2022, 2023) and additional sequences by Kawahara et al. (2023) are in error and refer to C. flavescens." Zur echten C. croites scheint es leider keine vergleichbaren Barcode-Daten zu geben.

Braby (2026: 19-20) erklärt zur Verbreitung in Australien: "Croitana flavescens occurs from Perth to Bunbury, WA (Figure 8). Around Perth, it has been recorded from several locations, including Hepburn Heights (18 km NNW of CBD) (Braby 2000), Sorrento (18 km NW of CBD) (Dunn & Dunn 1991), Trigg bushlands reserve (13 km NW of CBD) (Williams 2009), City Beach (R.P. Field), Wembley (Braby 2000; Edwards 1979), and ‘North Perth’ (R.W. Hay). South of the Swan River, it has been recorded at Cape Peron (J.W.C. d’Apice), Rockingham (C.G. Miller), Singleton (Braby 2000), Mandurah (L.E. Couchman), Dawesville (A.A.E. Williams), Binningup (J.F.R. Kerr), and Bunbury (Atkins 1978; Braby 2000; Edwards 1979; Field 1987; Le Souëf 1971; Waterhouse 1932a; Williams et al. 2012b; Williams, Williams, & Atkins 1997). South of Bunbury, it has been collected 2 km S of Bunbury (R.P. Field) and at Maidens Reserve (R. Ham). Further surveys are required to determine if the species occurs further north (e.g., Joondalup, Yanchep, Two Rocks, Wilbinga) where potentially suitable habitat persists up to 75 km NNW of Perth. There are few records between Dawesville and Bunbury, but potentially suitable habitat persists between Dawesville and Preston Beach (80–105 km SSW of Perth) that should be investigated (M.R. Williams, pers. comm. 2025)."

3.4. Typenmaterial

Braby (2026: 17) notierte: "Holotype ♂ ‘Wembley W.A., Sept 21 1961 j F E Parsons’, ‘F.E. Parsons collection, Donated A.N.I.C. 1967’ (ANIC) (Figures 1j–l, 4e–f). Paratypes Australia, Western Australia: 22♂, 21♀ [...]" Es gibt also eine lange Serie von Paratypen von vielen Fundstellen.