Atomotricha oeconoma

Atomotricha oeconoma
Illustration of female
Illustration of male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Oecophoridae
Genus:	Atomotricha
Species:	A. oeconoma
Binomial name
Atomotricha oeconoma Meyrick, 1914

Atomotricha oeconoma is a moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1914. ^[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed at Mount Taranaki, Wellington and in Dunedin. The adults emerge in June. The female adult is semi-apterous and is incapable of flight.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1914 using three specimens collected in August in Karori by George Hudson. ^[2] Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. ^[3] The male lectotype specimen is held at Natural History Museum, London. ^[4]

Description

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂. 23 mm. Head whitish-ochreous. Palpi with second joint fuscous, not reaching base of antennae, scales roughly projecting beneath towards apex, terminal joint sprinkled with fuscous. Antennal joints thrice as long as their apical width, ciliations 5. Thorax fuscous. Abdomen whitish-ochreous. Forewings elongate, narrow towards base, hardly dilated, costa gently arched, apex tolerably pointed, termen nearly straight, very oblique; fuscous, mixed with grey in disc; dorsum suffused with pale ochreous towards base, edged by a blackish raised dot at 1⁄5 of wing; stigmata undefined, pale ochreous, plical nearly beneath first discal : cilia fuscous sprinkled with whitish-ochreous, base spinkled with blackish. Hindwings pale whitish-ochreous, suffused with pale grey except towards apex and posterior part of costa; cilia ochreous-whitish. ♀. 9-10 mm. Forewings ovate-lanceolate; fuscous suffusedly mixed with darker, especially towards base; dorsal area suffused with whitish-ochreous towards base; second discal stigma represented by a raised ochreous tuft edged with dark fuscous. Hindwings rudimentary. ^[2]

The female of the species is semi-apterous and is incapable of flight. ^[3]

Distribution

A. oeconoma is endemic to New Zealand. ^[5] It has been observed in its type locality of Wellington, at Mount Taranaki and in Dunedin. ^{[3] [6] [7]}

Behaviour

The adults of this species appear in June and are unusual in that they emerge during the winter months. ^[3] Both the female and the male of the species can be found on cold nights resting on fences. ^[3] A. oeconoma has been beaten from tōtara. ^[6]

References

1. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN   978-1-877257-93-3. LCCN   2011379669. OCLC   973607714. OL   25288394M. Wikidata   Q45922947.
2. Edward Meyrick (1914). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 46: 110. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q98606535.
3. Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 288, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
4. 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: 90. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
5. "Atomotricha oeconoma Meyrick, 1914". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
6. D. E. Gaskin (January 1970). "NEW RECORDS OF LEPIDOPTERA FROM MT. EGMONT AND MT. RUAPEHU, NEW ZEALAND". New Zealand Entomologist. 4 (3): 112–114. doi:10.1080/00779962.1970.9722933. ISSN   0077-9962. Wikidata   Q105726524.
7. George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 451, OCLC   9742724, Wikidata   Q109420935