Miscera Walker, 1863

Kallies, Axel, 2013, New and little known Brachodidae from tropical Asia and Papua New Guinea (Lepidoptera, Cossoidea), Zootaxa 3641 (3), pp. 241-259 : 249

Miscera Walker, 1863

Type species: Miscera resumptana Walker, 1863 , by monotypy.

Miscera was described from Australia, and in its current composition it is paraphyletic. The larvae of the type species, Miscera resumptana , are presumed to feed in the roots of grasses ( Poaceae ) or sedges ( Cyperaceae ), similar to most Australian species of this genus (unpublished). Another small group of species, related to the Australian Miscera basichrysa (Lower, 1916) , however, feeds in the fruits of palms of the genus Calamus (Arecaceae) . These species differ considerably from the remaining species of Miscera and represent an unnamed genus. Species of the Calamus -feeding group are found in tropical Australia, Papua New Guinea, northeastern India (Kallies, 1998), and Sulawesi Island (described below), suggesting a wide distribution in Southeast Asia. As the Australian Brachodidae are the subject of a separate study based on extensive material, I refrain from describing the new genus herein.