Batrachedra filicicola is a species of moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 of the Batrachedridae

Batrachedridae

Batrachedridae is a small family of moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with the wings wrapped tightly around the body. The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed...

 family. It is found in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

is about 8 mm. The head and thorax are bronzy-whitish. The palpi have appressed scales and are whitish, with faint greyish marks at the apex of the second joint and at the base and apex of the terminal joint. The abdomen is grey. The forewings are narrow-lanceolate and the apex narrowly produced. They are violet-grey, becoming darker posteriorly. The hindwings are violet-grey.

The species was recorded on tree-ferns in November. The larva probably feed on vegetable refuse accumulated on the stems.