Heliostibes vibratrix | |
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Illustration by George Hudson | |
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Species: | H. vibratrix |
Binomial name | |
Heliostibes vibratrix | |
Heliostibes vibratrix is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. [1] [2] It is endemic to New Zealand. This species inhabits open mountainside habitat and is known to feed on Nothofagus truncata. Yellow-crowned parakeets predate the larvae of H. vibratrix.
This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1927 using a specimen collected by George Hudson in January at Mount Arthur at 4000 ft. [3] The female holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [1]
Meyrick described the species as follows:
♀ 16 mm. Head and palpi fuscous. Thorax rather darker bronzy-fuscous. Abdomen dark fuscous, ventral surface pale yellow. Forewings suboblong, termen hardly oblique; fuscous, with numerous irregular transverse cloudy dark purplish-fuscous striae; second discal stigma forming a small transverse dark fuscous spot; two slight whitish marks on dorsum about middle: cilia fuscous. Hindwings blackish-grey; cilia grey, basal third dark fuscous. [3]
This species is endemic to New Zealand. [4]
This species prefers open mountainside habitat. [5] The larvae of this species are known to feed on Nothofagus truncata . [6] [7] Larvae are a predated by the Yellow-crowned parakeet. [8]