Tingena seclusa

Tingena seclusa
Male holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Oecophoridae
Genus:	Tingena
Species:	T. seclusa
Binomial name
Tingena seclusa (Philpott, 1921) [1]
Synonyms [2]
Borkhausenia seclusaPhilpott, 1921

Tingena seclusa is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. ^[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the Canterbury and Otago regions. The larvae of this species are litter leaf feeders and the adults of this species are on the wing from December to February.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1921 using a male specimen collected at Ben Lomond in December, and another specimen collected at Lake Luna also in December and named Borkhausenia seclusa. ^[3] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under the name Borkhausenia seclusa in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. ^[4] Philpott also discussed this species under the name B. seclusa and illustrated the male genitalia of a paratype specimen. ^{[5] [2]} In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the genus Tingena. ^[2] The male holotype specimen, collected at Lake Luna, is held at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. ^[2]

Description

Illustration of T. seclusa by George Hudson.

Philpott first described this species as follows:

♂. 16–17 mm. Head and palpi grey, palpi infuscated beneath. Antennae grey, obscurely annulated with blackish. Thorax fuscous-grey, shoulders brown. Abdomen greyish-brown. Legs ochreous-grey, tarsi infuscated. Forewings rather elongate, costa moderately arched, apex rounded, termen strongly oblique; brownish-grey mixed with white and fuscous; stigmata fuscous, first and second discal in a line, obscurely white-margined; plical before first discal, submerged in oblique fuscous fascia from dorsum to beneath first discal; a subterminal curved fuscous line, indented beneath costa, submerged in brownish-fuscous patch above tornus and reappearing on dorsum before tornus as a triangular spot, broadly margined with white on upper portion; space above apical half of dorsum broadly suffused with white: cilia grey mixed with fuscous, round apex wholly fuscous. Hindwings and cilia grey. ^[3]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the Otago and Canterbury regions. ^{[1] [3] [6]}

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing in December to February. ^{[3] [6]} The larvae of this species are litter leaf feeders. ^[6]

References

1. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN   978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC   973607714. OL   25288394M. Wikidata   Q45922947.
2. 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: 105. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN   0111-5383. Wikidata   Q45083134.
3. Alfred Philpott (1921). "Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 53: 240. ISSN   1176-6158. Wikidata   Q59640501.
4. George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington, p. 270, OCLC   25449322, Wikidata   Q58593286
5. Alfred Philpott (1926). "List of New Zealand species of Borkhausenia (Oecophoridae: Lepidoptera), including new species". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand . 56: 399–413. ISSN   1176-6166. Wikidata   Q110157185.
6. 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.