''Cosmopterix ancistraea'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

in the family

Cosmopterigidae The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects (cosmet moths) in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seeds and stems of their host plants. About 1500 species are described. ...

. It was described by

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854, in Ramsbury – 31 March 1938, at Thornhanger, Marlborough) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern micr ...

in 1913. It is found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is about . The forewings are bronzy blackish with a silvery-white subcostal line from the base, not nearly reaching the band, inclined downwards posteriorly. There is a silvery-white median line from the base almost to a projection of the band, as well as a white subdorsal line from one-fourth to the projection of the band. The dorsal edge is white from the base to one-third of the wing and the costal edge is shortly white before the band. There is a rather broad light ochreous-yellowish median band, somewhat narrowed dorsally, the anterior edge marked with two golden-metallic spots, the upper wholly anterior to the lower, followed by a black dot, the edge forming a projection between these, the posterior edge marked with two opposite golden-metallic spots, the lower preceded by a black speck, between these suffusedly projecting and giving rise to a white streak which soon becomes terminal and runs to the apex. The hindwings are light grey.

References

Endemic moths of South Africa Moths described in 1913 ancistraea {{Cosmopterix-stub