Pasiphila acompsa

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Pasiphila acompsa
Pasiphila acompsa holotype.jpg
Male holotype
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Pasiphila
Species:
P. acompsa
Binomial name
Pasiphila acompsa
(Prout, 1927) [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Chloroclystis acompsaProut, 1927
  • Chloroclystis modestaPhilpott, 1915 (preocc.)

Pasiphila acompsa is a moth in the family Geometridae. It was described by Louis Beethoven Prout in 1927. [2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in mountainous locations in both the North and South Islands. [3] Larvae of this species have been reared on plants within the Veronica genus. Adults are on the wing from December to February.

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1915 and named Chloroclystis modesta. [4] However the species name Chloroclystis acompsa was proposed by Louis Beethoven Prout as a replace name for the name given by Alfred Philpott which Prout regarded as being preoccupied by Chloroclystis modesta described by William Warren. [5] [2] In 1971 John S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Pasiphila. [6] In 1988 John S. Dugdale discussed this species under the name Pasiphila acompsa and in 2010 Robert Hoare in the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity followed this placement. [2] [3] The male holotype specimen was collected at Bold Peak in the Otago by Charles Cuthbert Fenwick and is now held at Te Papa. [2]

Description

Illustration of P. acompsa. 19 MA I437614 TePapa Plate-XV-The-butterflies full (cropped).jpg
Illustration of P. acompsa.

Philpott's description of this species is as follows:

♂♀ 26–29 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen dark brownish-fuscous, sparsely mixed with grey. Palpi reddish-tinged, 2+1⁄2. Antennae in ♂ ciliate-fasciculate, ciliations 4+1⁄2. Forewings rather narrow, costa subsinuate, slightly arched, termen sinuate on lower half, moderately oblique; fuscous-brown; markings obscure, grey-whitish; veins interruptedly marked with blackish; many irregularly serrate or waved transverse striae; a more distinct pair at 1⁄3, and 3 or 4 similar ones defining outer edge of median band at 2⁄3; an obscure blackish discal dot; a faintly greenish-tinged serrate subterminal line: cilia fuscous with paler median line, sometimes indistinctly barred with darker. Hindwings, termen irregularly rounded, prominent at veins 3 and 4; fuscous-grey, darker dorsally; a dark discal dot; some lighter striae obscurely indicated on dorsum: cilia as in forewings. Differs from Chloroclystis halianthes Meyr. in the irregular termen of the hindwings. It is also much darker in colour, and the cilia are not distinctly barred. [4]

This species is similar in appearance to Pasiphila dryas but it lacks the pink-brown shade of the latter species. [7]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed on Mount Taranaki and Mount Ruapehu in the North Island and on Ben Lomond, Bold Peak and around Lake Wakatipu, all in Otago in the South Island. [7] P. acompsa has been observed at altitudes of between 3,000 and 4,000 feet. [7]

Behaviour

Adults of this species are on the wing from December to February. [7]

Hosts

Larval host Veronica stricta Veronica stricta stricta 116146039.jpg
Larval host Veronica stricta

Larvae of this species have been reared on plants within the Veronica genus. [8] [9]

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References

  1. ↑ "Pasiphila acompsa (Prout, 1927)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 14: 188. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 460. ISBN   978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC   973607714. OL   25288394M. Wikidata   Q45922947.
  4. 1 2 Alfred Philpott (12 July 1915). "Descriptions of new species of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 47: 193. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q66084596.
  5. ↑ Louis Beethoven Prout (15 August 1927). "Notes on New Zealand Geometridae". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 58: 76. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q110670763.
  6. ↑ J. S. Dugdale (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae" (PDF). Pacific Insects Monographs . 27: 106. ISSN   0078-7515. Wikidata   Q64006453.
  7. 1 2 3 4 George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 94, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
  8. ↑ "Pasiphila acompsa (Prout, 1927) Herbivore Report". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  9. ↑ Graeme White (1991). "The Changing Abundance of Moths in a Tussock Grassland, 1962- 1989, and 50-Year to 70-Year Trends" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Ecology . 15 (1): 5–22. ISSN   0110-6465. JSTOR   24054454. Wikidata   Q107569572.
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