Dumbletonius unimaculata

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Dumbletonius unimaculata
Dumbletonius unimaculatus female.jpg
Female
Dumbletonius unimaculatus male.jpg
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hepialidae
Genus: Dumbletonius
Species:
D. unimaculata
Binomial name
Dumbletonius unimaculata
(Salmon, 1948) [1]
Synonyms
  • Porina unimaculata Salmon, 1948
  • Trioxycanus unimaculatus (Salmon, 1948)
  • Dumbletonius sylvicola Dugdale, 1988

Dumbletonius unimaculata is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species is host to the vegetable caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps robertsii .

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by John T. Salmon as Porina unimaculata in 1948 from specimens obtained by Graham Turbott on the Three Kings Islands. [2] In 1966 Dumbleton moved the species to a new genus and gave the new combination as Trioxycanus unimaculatus. [3]

Description

Dumbletonius unimaculatus AMNZ21983 Male holotype specimen Dumbletonius unimaculatus AMNZ21983 Ventral.jpg
Dumbletonius unimaculatus AMNZ21983 Male holotype specimen

The wingspan is 51–67 mm for males and 74–90 mm for females. The colour pattern of the forewings is complex in males and usually reduced or obsolete in female. The hindwings are unicolorous yellow, orange-yellow or pink. [4] The bright colouration of the hindwing of the male of the species fades rapidly after death. [5]

Adults are on wing from December to April. The larvae probably feed on fallen leaves. [4]

Distribution

Dumbletonius unimaculatus is endemic to New Zealand [6] and can be found only in the North Island where it is common. [5]

Hosts

The caterpillar of this species is a host for the vegetable caterpillar fungus Ophiocordyceps robertsii . This fungus mummifies the caterpillar then grows its fruiting body from the caterpillar's head through the soil. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hepialidae</span> Family of moths

The Hepialidae are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths.

<i>Dumbletonius</i> Genus of moths

Dumbletonius is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are two described species, both endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Heloxycanus</i> Genus of moths

Heloxycanus patricki, also known as the sphagnum porina moth, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae, the ghost moths. It is the only member of the genus Heloxycanus. This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has been classified as having the status of "At Risk, Declining" by the Department of Conservation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pūriri moth</span> Species of moth

The pūriri moth, also commonly called the ghost moth or pepetuna, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. This moth is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest moth, with a wingspan of up to 150 mm. It spends the first five to six years of its life as a grub in a tree trunk, with the last 48 hours of its life as a moth. Footage has been taken of a pūriri moth chrysalis hatching over a period of one hour and forty minutes.

<i>Campbellana</i> Genus of moths

Campbellana is a genus of moths of the Carposinidae family, containing only one species, Campbellana attenuata. This species is endemic to the Campbell Islands of New Zealand.

<i>Aoraia aspina</i> Species of moth

Aoraia aspina is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It was described by John S. Dugdale in 1994 from specimens collected in the Tasman, Otago and Southland districts. It is endemic to New Zealand.

<i>Aoraia dinodes</i> Species of moth

Aoraia dinodes is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This moth was described by Edward Meyrick in 1890 from specimens collected in Invercargill by Captain Hutton.

<i>Aoraia enysii</i> Species of moth

Aoraia enysii, also known as the forest ghost moth is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This is the only species of the genus Aoraia that can be found in the North as well as the South Island. This species can be found from Mount Te Aroha southwards. This species was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877 from a specimen obtained in the North Island by J. D. Enys.

<i>Aoraia flavida</i> Species of moth

Aoraia flavida is a species of moth from the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species was described by John S. Dugdale in 1994 from specimens obtained near Gem Lake in the Umbrella Mountains in Southland and collected by B. H. Patrick.

<i>Aoraia insularis</i> Species of moth

Aoraia insularis, also known as the Rakiura ghost moth, is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found on only on Stewart Island and Steward Island's surrounding smaller islands. It was described by John S. Dugdale in 1994.

<i>Aoraia macropis</i> Species of moth

Aoraia macropis is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the mountains of southern Central Otago. It was described by John S. Dugdale in 1994.

<i>Aoraia senex</i> Species of moth

Aoraia senex is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it is known from the South Island. This species was first described by George Vernon Hudson in 1908 from specimens discovered by J. H. Lewis in Central Otago.

<i>Dioxycanus fusca</i> Species of moth

Dioxycanus fusca is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1914 as Porina fusca using specimens collected by C. Fenwick and M. O. Pasco. In 1966 L. J. Dumbleton reviewed New Zealand Hepialinae and placed this species within the genus Dioxycanus, giving it the new combination Dioxycanus fuscus.

<i>Dioxycanus oreas</i> Species of moth

Dioxycanus oreas is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by George Vernon Hudson in 1920. The species was discovered by Averil Lysaght.

<i>Dumbletonius characterifer</i> Species of moth

Dumbletonius characterifer is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by Francis Walker in 1865.

<i>Wiseana copularis</i> Species of moth

Wiseana copularis is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This moth is one of several very similar looking species within the genus Wiseana and this group are collectively referred to as "Porina" moths. In its larvae form this species consumes pasture grasses and, if numerous, is regarded as a pest by New Zealand farmers reliant on good quality pasture for their stock.

<i>Wiseana umbraculata</i> Species of moth

Wiseana umbraculata, also known as the bog porina, is a species of moth belonging to the family Hepialidae. There are seven endemic species and three haplotypes of Wiseana in New Zealand including bog porina. It was regarded as being common in Whanganui in the early twentieth century.

<i>Ophiocordyceps robertsii</i> Species of fungus

Ophiocordyceps robertsii, known in New Zealand as vegetable caterpillar is an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the order Hypocreales (Ascomycota) in the family Ophiocordycipitaceae. It invades the caterpillars of leaf-litter dwelling moths and turns them into fungal mummies, sending up a fruiting spike above the forest floor to shed its spores. Caterpillars eat the spores whilst feeding on leaf litter to complete the fungal life cycle. Evidence of this fungus can be seen when small brown stems push through the forest floor: underneath will be the dried remains of the host caterpillar. This species was first thought by Europeans to be a worm or caterpillar that burrowed from the top of a tree to the roots, where it exited and then grew a shoot of the plant out of its head. It was the first fungus provided with a binomial name from New Zealand.

<i>Hierodoris bilineata</i> Species of moth, endemic to New Zealand

Hierodoris bilineata is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species is classified as "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" by the Department of Conservation. It is possible that this species gives birth to live young rather than lay eggs as is the norm.

<i>Lysiphragma argentaria</i> Species of moth

Lysiphragma argentaria is a species of moth in the family Tineidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is classified as "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" by the Department of Conservation.

References

  1. Nielsen, Ebbe S.; Robinson, Gaden S.; Wagner, David L. (2000). "Ghost-moths of the world: a global inventory and bibliography of the Exoporia (Mnesarchaeoidea and Hepialoidea) (Lepidoptera )" (PDF). Journal of Natural History. 34 (6): 823–878. doi:10.1080/002229300299282. S2CID   86004391.
  2. Salmon, J. T. (1948). "New Species and Records of Lepidoptera from the Three Kings Islands, New Zealand". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 3 (4/5): 309–311. JSTOR   42906019.
  3. Dumbleton, L. J. (1966). "Genitalia, classification and zoogeography of the New Zealand Hepialidae (Lepidoptera)". New Zealand Journal of Science. 9 (4): 920–981 via BUGZ.
  4. 1 2 Dugdale, J. S. (1994). "Hepialidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera)" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 30: 58–59 via Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.
  5. 1 2 3 Hoare, Robert J. B. (2014). A photographic guide to moths & butterflies of New Zealand. Ball, Olivier. Auckland: New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd. p. 16. ISBN   9781869663995. OCLC   891672034.
  6. "Dumbletonius unimaculatus (Salmon, 1948)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2017-09-28.