Declana floccosa

Last updated

Declana floccosa
Declana floccosa male.jpg
Male specimen
Declana floccosa female.jpg
Female specimen
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Declana
Species:
D. floccosa
Binomial name
Declana floccosa
Walker, 1858 [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Declana scabraWalker, 1863
  • Declana nigrosparsaButler, 1879
  • Declana callistaSalmon, 1946

Declana floccosa, the forest semilooper or manuka moth is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is endemic to New Zealand. [1] It was first described by Francis Walker in 1863 using specimens obtained from Colonel Bolton. [2]

Contents

The wingspan of this species is 27–35 mm and is extremely variable in colour and patterning. [3] [4] [5]

The larvae feed on a wide range of native and exotic broad-leaved and coniferous shrubs and trees. [6] Exotic hosts include Pinus radiata and other Pinus species, Pseudotsuga menziesii , Larix and Eucalyptus . [3] Native hosts include Muehlenbeckia australis. [7]

Population decline and recovery

A longitudinal study from 1974 to 2016 indicated the population of this moth declined sharply in the study area in the mid-1980s but began to recover in the late 1990s. [5] It has been hypothesised that the arrival of Vespula vulgaris in New Zealand might be the cause of the population decline. [5] It was also hypothesised that the recovery in population may have been brought about as a result of the extended emergence period of this moth which gave those moths emerging later in the season the ability to avoid predation by wasps. [5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Declana floccosa Walker, 1858". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Walker, Francis (1858). "Noctuidae". List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. 15: 1521–1888 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. 1 2 "Declana floccosa, forest semilooper". www.nzffa.org.nz. New Zealand Farm Forestry Association. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Hudson, George Vernon (1888). "On the varieties of a common moth (Declana floccosa)". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 21: 190–193 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. 1 2 3 4 John E. C. Flux; Meg M. Flux (3 July 2019). "Polymorph stability, and changed flight period, of Declana floccosa Walker, 1858 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in New Zealand, 1974–2016". New Zealand Entomologist. 42 (2): 100–109. doi:10.1080/00779962.2019.1676134. ISSN   0077-9962. Wikidata   Q105348997.
  6. ↑ "PlantSynz - Invertebrate herbivore biodiversity assessment tool: Database". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  7. ↑ Patrick, Brian (18 May 2016). "Ecological importance of Muehlenbeckia australis/Pohuehue". www.openspace.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-07.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.