Kauri Moths (Lepidoptera: Agathiphagidae)

Kauri moths, family Agathiphagidae, have only two known species, one each from Queensland and Fiji. The family comprises the monobasic superfamily Agathiphagoidea and the only representative of the suborder Aglossata. Adults small (9 to 14 mm wingspan), with head vertex rough-scaled; with rudimentary chewing mouthparts (haustellum absent); short labial palpi, 3-segmented; maxillary palpi 5-segmented and folded. Maculation somewhat similar to Micropterigidae but mostly gray with fine speckling spots. Adults are diurnally active. Larvae are seed-borers of kauri pines (Agathis, Araucariaceae) of the South Pacific and are modified for this kind of feeding. Thus, they appear much more elongated and different from larvae of Micropterigidae.