Sabatinca caustica

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Sabatinca caustica
Sabatinca caustica.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Micropterigidae
Genus: Sabatinca
Species:
S. caustica
Binomial name
Sabatinca caustica
Meyrick, 1912 [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Sabatinca barbaricaPhilpott, 1918

Sabatinca caustica is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. [1] It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1912. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in both Southland and at Stewart Island / Rakiura. The adults of this species are variable in appearance with some specimens being mainly white on their forewings while others have forewings that are a more mottled purple-brown colour. Adults are on the wing from the start of October until the middle of December. Larvae feed on the surface of leafy liverworts.

Contents

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1912 using specimens collected in October at Seaward Moss, Invercargill by Alfred Philpott. [2] The lectotype specimen, designated by J. S. Dugdale in 1988, is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [3] [1] In 2014 George Gibbs synonymised S. barbarica with S. caustica arguing that S. caustica is extremely variable in appearance and that the morphological and molecular evidence does not support the separation of these taxa. [1]

Description

Sabatinca caustica as illustrated by George Hudson Sabatinca caustica Fig 18 MA I437900 TePapa Plate-XXXIX-The-butterflies full (cropped).jpg
Sabatinca caustica as illustrated by George Hudson

Meyrick described the adults of the species as follows:

♂. 9-10 mm. Head and thorax bronzy-orange-ochreous thorax sometimes marked with whitish. Antennae ochreous, towards apex blackish. Abdomen dark purple-grey. Forewings ovate-lanceolate, costa moderately arched, apex pointed, termen extremely obliquely rounded ; violet-coppery-ochreous, in one specimen largely suffused with whitish ; in one specimen a spot of dark purple-fuscous suffusion on dorsum towards base, one in disc beyond middle, and some irregular marking towards termen, and in the whitish-suffused specimen the dark purple-fuscous suffusion forms a blotch along anterior portion of costa connected with a large oblique blotch in middle of disc, a streak along dorsum from base to 23, a subterminal fascia enclosing a white spot on costa and a mark along termen in middle, but in the other two specimens there are no markings : cilia golden-ochreous. Hindwings deep purple ; cilia pale golden-ochreous. [2]

The adults of this species are variable in appearance with some specimens being mainly white on their forewings while others have forewings that are a more mottled purple-brown colour. [4] [5]

Distribution

Takitimu Mountains, collection location of S. caustica Halocarpus bidwillii in Wilderness Reserve with Takitimu Mountains in the background.jpg
Takitimu Mountains, collection location of S. caustica

This species is endemic to New Zealand. [6] This species is found in Southland, including in the Takitimu Mountains, and at Stewart Island / Rakiura. [1]

Behaviour

This species is on the wing from the start of October until the middle of December. [1]

Host species and habitat

Larvae feed on the surface of leafy liverworts. [7]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Sabatinca calliarcha</i> Species of moth endemic to New Zealand

Sabatinca calliarcha is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1912. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is found in two separate areas of New Zealand - the first in the norther parts of the North Island including Great Barrier Island and the second population can be found from the top of the South Island down to Southland. The adults of the species are on the wing from the end of September until the middle of January. The species prefers to inhabit damp forests and larvae likely feed on leafy liverwort species. Adult moths likely feed on the spores of ferns or the pollen of sedge grasses.

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Sabatinca pluvialis is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is only known from Secretary Island. Adults of this species are on the wing from the middle of December until the middle of January. The larval host species is the liverwort Pseudomarsupidium piliferum. This species is as "Data Deficient" under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.

Sabatinca weheka is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand where it can be found near Lake Matheson and also on Secretary Island. This species is very similar in appearance to S. heighwayi in both their larval and adult forms but the adults of S. weheka differ as they are darker and more strongly marked on the forewings and have a dark brownish base colour to their wings. This species is on the wing from the middle to the end of October and lives in forest with a high rainfall. The larval host species is the liverwort Plagiochila deltoidea.

<i>Tingena berenice</i> Species of moth, endemic to New Zealand

Tingena berenice is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. It is endemic to New Zealand and has been found in the North and South Islands. It is a brightly coloured species which is on the wing in November. Its preferred habitat is mixed beech forest.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 George W. Gibbs (30 June 2014). "Micropterigidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera)" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. 72. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.72. ISSN   0111-5383. OCLC   917549814. Wikidata   Q44902221. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2021.
  2. 1 2 Edward Meyrick (10 June 1912). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 44: 124. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q109393380.
  3. 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: 54. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
  4. George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 369, LCCN   88133764, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
  5. Sandra R Schachat; Richard L Brown (26 May 2016). "Forewing color pattern in Micropterigidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera): homologies between contrast boundaries, and a revised hypothesis for the origin of symmetry systems". BMC Ecology and Evolution . 16 (1): 116. doi: 10.1186/S12862-016-0687-Z . ISSN   1471-2148. PMC   4880886 . PMID   27230100. Wikidata   Q28602191.
  6. "Sabatinca caustica Meyrick, 1912". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
  7. Glime, Janice M. (2017). "Chapter 12: Terrestrial Insects: Holometabola – Lepidoptera: Micropterigoidea – Gelechioidea". Bryophyte Ecology. Vol. 2. Michigan Technological University.

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, a publication from 1912, now in the public domain in the United States.