Asaphodes cosmodora

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Asaphodes cosmodora
Asaphodes cosmodora female.jpg
Female
Asaphodes cosmodora male.jpg
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Asaphodes
Species:
A. cosmodora
Binomial name
Asaphodes cosmodora
(Meyrick, 1888) [1]
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Larentia cosmodoraMeyrick, 1888
  • Xanthorhoe cosmodora(Meyrick, 1888)
  • Larentia bryopisMeyrick, 1888
  • Xanthorhoe bryopis(Meyrick, 1888)
  • Asaphodes bryopis(Meyrick, 1888)

Asaphodes cosmodora is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the South Island. The adults of this species are on the wing in January and February.

Contents

Taxonomy

A. cosmodora was described by Edward Meyrick in 1888 as Larentia cosmodora using material he collected at Gordon's Pyramid on Mount Arthur in January. [2] [4] George Hudson also discussed this species under the name Xanthorhoe clarata in both 1898 and in 1928. [5] [6] In 1971 J. S. Dugdale confirmed the placement of this species in the genus Asaphodes. [7] In 1988 Dugdale confirmed this placement in his catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera. [8] Dugdale also proposed that the species Asaphodes bryopis be synonymised with A. cosmodora. [2] The female holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [2]

Description

Meyrick originally described the species as follows:

Female. — 27 mm. Head, palpi, antennae, thorax, abdomen, and legs whitish-ochreous, slightly brownish-tinged; abdomen with a double dorsal series of dark fuscous dots. Forewings with costa hardly perceptibly arched, hindmargin slightly rounded, oblique; whitish-ochreous, slightly yellowish-tinged; a curved irregular black line rather near base, followed by a white line; median band rather darker, tinged with yellowish-fuscous towards edges, margined with dentate black lines and outside these with white, anterior from 13 of costa to 25 of inner margin, rather curved, posterior from 23 of costa to 34 of inner margin, somewhat prominent beneath costa, and with a more distinct double prominence in middle; two white dentate-edged spots within median band, first beneath costa, containing small black discal dot, second on inner margin; a waved white subterminal line; a fine dark fuscous hindmarginal line interrupted into numerous dots: cilia whitish-ochreous, with dark fuscous bars hardly reaching base. Hindwings whitish-ochreous, with faint darker greyish-tinged lines; a median band of four more distinct cloudy grey lines, first three straight, fourth well-marked, rather dark fuscous, waved, somewhat prominent in middle, beneath confluent with third; a faint white subterminal line; cilia pale whitish-ochreous, with a faint greyish line tending to form spots. [4]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. [1] [9] Along with mountainous areas in the Kahurangi National Park, this species has also been found in the Dansey ecological district in Otago at altitudes of between 1000 and 1300 m. [10]

Biology and life cycle

A. cosmodora can be found on the wing in January and February. [10]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Asaphodes cosmodora (Meyrick, 1888)". www.nzor.org.nz. Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research Ltd. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–269. ISBN   0477025188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  3. Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Asaphodes cosmodora". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index . Natural History Museum . Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  4. 1 2 Meyrick, Edward (1888). "Notes on New Zealand Geometrina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 20: 47–62 via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. Hudson, George Vernon (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & Co. p. 62. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.7912.
  6. Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 115, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
  7. Dugdale, J. S. (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae". Pacific Insects Monographs . 27: 55–172. ISSN   0078-7515. Wikidata   Q64006453.
  8. Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 173. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 January 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  9. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity. Volume Two. Kingdom Animalia: Chaetognatha, Ecdysozoa, Ichnofossils. Vol. 2. Christchurch, N.Z.: Canterbury University Press. p. 459. ISBN   9781877257933. OCLC   973607714.
  10. 1 2 Patrick, B.H. (1991). Insects of the Dansey Ecological District (PDF). Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Conservation, New Zealand. p. 17. ISBN   0-478-01285-3 . Retrieved 19 August 2018.