Pseudocossus Gaede, 1933

Kallies, Axel, 2012, Revision of Cossinae and small Zeuzerinae from Australia (Lepidoptera: Cossidae) 3454, Zootaxa 3454 (1), pp. 1-62 : 18

= Pseudocossus Gaede, 1933 (nec Kenrick, 1914)

Type species: Pseudocossus fulvicollis Gaede, 1933 .

Zyganisus is another Australian endemic Cossinae with plesiomorphic characters that was excluded from Cossidae by Schoorl (1990) but retained by Edwards (1996) and Yakovlev (2011).

Diagnosis. Species of Zyganisus are large moths (45–70 mm alar expanse) of typical Cossinae appearance with ash-grey to brown-grey forewings with dense transverse black strigulae and narrow, irregular, transverse, black lines. The radial veins of the forewings are usually separate, sometimes R 4 /R 5 have a short to moderate stalk. The antennae are long-bipectinate in males, short-bipectinate in females. The labial palps are straight; not conspicuously longer in females, the middle segment rough scaled. The genus is very similar to Culama , which differs by its venation (R 3 /R 4 long stalked), the shorter antennal pectination in males, the long labial palps, particularly in females, and the denser scaling of the wings, in particular of the hindwings.

The moths fly in late autumn and winter, typically from the end of April to early September, although individuals may be seen as early as March or as late as October. The larval foodplants of Zyganisus are not known with certainty. There are several reports concerning larva identified as Zyganisus caliginosus feeding on Eucalyptus and Angophora ; however, for reasons discussed below, the validity of these records is uncertain.