Pasiphila halianthes

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Pasiphila halianthes
Pasiphila halianthes female.jpg
Female
Pasiphila halianthes male.jpg
Male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Pasiphila
Species:
P. halianthes
Binomial name
Pasiphila halianthes
(Meyrick, 1907) [1]
Synonyms [2]
  • Chloroclystis halianthesMeyrick, 1907
  • Chloroclystis rufulitinctaProut, 1914

Pasiphila halianthes is a moth of the family Geometridae. [1] It was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1907. This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in both the North and South Island. It inhabits the upper edges of native forest on mountainsides. Larvae feed on the shoots and leaves of shrubs. Adults are variable in appearance but are regarded as being large in comparison to other species in this genus. They on the wing from November until April.

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1907 using specimens collected on the mountains around the head of Lake Wakatipu at altitudes of between 3000 to 4000ft by George Hudson. [3] [4] Meyrick originally named the species Chloroclystis halianthes. [3] [2] Hudson illustrated and discussed this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. [4] In 1914 Louis Beethoven Prout, thinking he was describing a new species, named this moth Chloroclystis rufulitincta. [5] Meyrick synonymised this name in 1917. [6] In 1971 John S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Pasiphila. [7] The male lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [2]

Description

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂. 26-27 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax fuscous mixed with whitish and dark fuscous, shoulders partially suffused with red ; palpi 2+1⁄4. Antennae biciliated with long fascicles. Forewings triangular, costa posteriorly arched, termen little bowed, oblique, subsinuate above tornus ; pale fuscous mixed with white and dark fuscous, sometimes partially suffused with pale red, appearing purplish-tinged ; normal fasciae formed of blackish irroration ; median band broad, anterior edge hardly curved, below middle sometimes largely suffused with white and partially with pale red, posterior edge running from before 3⁄4 of costa to tornus, very obtusely angulated below middle, followed by well-marked pale double second line ; fifth and sixth fasciae little marked, below middle obsolete through contraction of area : cilia fuscous mixed with whitish, distinctly barred with dark fuscous. Hindwings with termen tolerably evenly rounded, hardly prominent on vein 3 ; pale-grey, towards dorsum sprinkled with black and white. [3]

This species is likely variable in appearance and is regarded as being a relatively large species in this genus. [4]

Distribution

Pasiphila halianthes at Gertrude Valley. Pasiphila halianthes 473603036.jpg
Pasiphila halianthes at Gertrude Valley.

This species is endemic to New Zealand. [1] This species has been observed in both the North and South Islands including in the Otago and Fiordland regions. [8] [4]

Habitat and hosts

P. halianthes inhabits the upper edges of native forest on mountainsides. [4] The larvae of this species feed on the leaves and shoots of shrubs. [9]

Behaviour

Adults are on the wing from November until April. [8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Pasiphila halianthes (Meyrick, 1907)". www.nzor.org.nz. Archived from the original on 22 December 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 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: 188. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 3 Edward Meyrick (June 1907). "Notes and descriptions of Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 39: 107. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q110404133. BHL page 9975192 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 95, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286 BHL page 61899706 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  5. ↑ Louis Beethoven Prout (15 June 1914). "New Lepidoptera (Geometridae)". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 46: 123. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q110720214. BHL page 3297326
  6. ↑ Edward Meyrick (December 1917). "Revision of New Zealand Notodontina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 49: 254. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q110727829. BHL page 3313107
  7. ↑ Dugdale, J. S. (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae". Pacific Insects Monographs . 27: 106. ISSN   0078-7515. Wikidata   Q64006453.
  8. 1 2 "Pasiphila halianthes (Meyrick, 1907)". www.gbif.org. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
  9. ↑ "Pasiphila halianthes (Meyrick, 1907)". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 6 August 2025.
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