Amblyptilia lithoxesta

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Amblyptilia lithoxesta
LEPI Pterophoridae Stenoptilia lithoxesta.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterophoridae
Genus: Amblyptilia
Species:
A. lithoxesta
Binomial name
Amblyptilia lithoxesta
(Meyrick, 1885) [1]
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Mimaeseoptilis lithoxestusMeyrick, 1885
  • Mimaeseoptilis lithoxestaMeyrick, 1885
  • Stenoptilia lithoxesta(Meyrick, 1885)
  • Amblyptilia lithoxestes(Meyrick, 1885)
  • Amblyptilia lithoxesta(Meyrick, 1885)

Amblyptilia lithoxesta is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. [1] It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1885. This species inhabits rough herbage on mountain sides. Larvae feed on Veronica buchananii . Adults are on the wing in January.

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1885 using specimens collected in January at Arthur's Pass and named Mimaeseoptilis lithoxestus. [4] Meyrick gave a more detailed description later in 1885. [5] In 1928 George Hudson discussing and illustrating this species in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand using the name Stenoptilia lithoxesta. [6] In 1988 John S. Dugdale discussed this species under this name. [2] In 1993 Cees Gielis placed this species within the genus Amblyptilia, naming it Amblyptilia lithoxestes. [7] This placement was followed in 2010 in the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity but naming the species Amblyptilia lithoxesta. [1] This is the name is used in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. [3] The male lectotype specimen, collected Arthur's Pass, is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [2]

Description

Female adult of A. lithoxesta. Fig 11 MA I437622 TePapa Plate-XXIII-The-butterflies full (cropped).jpg
Female adult of A. lithoxesta.

Meyrick described this species as follows:

Male, female.— 23-28 mm. Head, palpi, thorax, and abdomen whitish-ochreous, mixed with white. Antennae fuscous. Legs ochreous-whitish, internally dark fuscous. Forewings light fuscous, suffused with whitish-ochreous posteriorly and towards inner margin, and strewn with white in disc; a sharply-defined very narrow blackish-fuscous costal streak from base to apex, rather strongly dilated between 1⁄2 and 3⁄4, obscurely margined beneath with pale whitish-ochreous; a black dot in disc before and rather below cleft; apex and hindmargin rather darker fuscous, somewhat mixed with whitish; a fine black line along lower edge of first segment : cilia whitish-ochreous, on costa dark fuscous, within cleft and on hindmargin of first segment snow-white. Hindwings fuscous-grey; cilia pale greyish-ochreous. [5]

Similar in appearance to Platyptilia charadrias but this species is larger in size, much neater in appearance, sharply defined costal streak, black line on lower margin of first segment, and absence of distinct dark line in cilia. [5]

Habitat

This species inhabits rough herbage on mountain sides. [6]

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing in January. [6]

Host

Larval host, Veronica buchananii. Veronica buchananii 13094291.jpg
Larval host, Veronica buchananii.

The larvae feed on the buds of Veronica buchananii . [8]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 463. ISBN   978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC   973607714. OL   25288394M. Wikidata   Q45922947.
  2. 1 2 3 Dugdale , J. S. (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 134. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 "Amblyptilia lithoxesta (Meyrick, 1885) - Biota of NZ". biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  4. ↑ Edward Meyrick (January 1885). "Description of New Zealand Microlepidoptera. V. Pyralidina". New Zealand Journal of Science. 2: 347. Wikidata   Q115123797.
  5. 1 2 3 Edward Meyrick (May 1885). "Art. XII. — Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 17: 127. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q110063611.
  6. 1 2 3 Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 210, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
  7. ↑ Cees Gielis (1993). "Generic revision of the superfamily Pterophoroidea (Lepidoptera)". Zoologische Verhandelingen . 290 (1): 76. ISSN   0024-1652. Wikidata   Q93258703.
  8. ↑ Department of Conservation (July 2005). Crown Pastoral Land Tenure Review - Lake Hawea part 1 (PDF) (Report). Land Information New Zealand. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
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