''Varius ochnicola'' is the only species in the

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

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 ...

genus ''Varius'' of the family

Nepticulidae Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes (see also Opostegidae, Bucculatricidae, Lyonetiidae). These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, incl ...

. The genus was erected by Scoble in 1983. The species was first described by Vari in 1955. It is found in

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

. The larvae feed on '' Ochna pulchra''. They probably

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...

the leaves of their host.

External links

* *Nieukerken, Erik J. van (1986)
"Systematics and Phylogeny of Holarctic Genera of Nepticulidae (Lepidoptera, Heteroneura: Monotrysia)"
''Zoologische Verhandelingen''. (236) – via Internet Archive. Endemic moths of South Africa Nepticulidae Moths of Africa Moths described in 1955 {{nepticulidae-stub