Tingena xanthodesma

Tingena xanthodesma
Male holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Oecophoridae
Genus:	Tingena
Species:	T. xanthodesma
Binomial name
Tingena xanthodesma (Philpott, 1923) [1]
Synonyms [2]
Borkhausenia xanthodesmaPhilpott, 1923

Tingena xanthodesma is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. ^[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Southland, the Otago region, and on Kapiti Island. This species inhabits native forest and is on the wing from November to February.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by in 1923 by Alfred Philpott using specimens collected in Otago and named Borkhausenia xanthodesma. ^[3] George Hudson discussed this species as a synonym of Borkhausenia compsogramma in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. ^[4] In 1926 Philpott discussed this species under the name B. xanthodesma and separated it from B. compsogramma based on differences in the male genitalia of these two species. ^{[5] [2]} In 1988 J. S. Dugdale confirmed this separation based on both the pattern colour differences between the two species as well as difference in the genitalia and placed this species within the genus Tingena. ^[2] The male holotype specimen, collected at Tisbury in Southland, is held at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. ^[2]

Description

Philpott described this species as follows:

♂♀ 12–15 mm. Head, palpi and thorax dark brown. Antennae dark brown annulated with yellowish. Abdomen dark brown, anal tuft yellowish. Legs greyish-ochreous. Forewings, costa slightly arched, apex broadly rounded, termen oblique; dark brown; markings clear yellow; a fascia almost touching base, narrow at costa, thence strongly dilated; a slightly curved, irregular-edged fascia from 1⁄4 costa to 1⁄2 dorsum; a similar fascia from 1⁄2 costa to 3⁄4 dorsum; a narrower fascia from 4⁄5 costa, inwardly oblique and nearly or quite joining preceding fascia above tornus; a broad regular fascia along termen: cilia dark brown. Hindwings and cilia dark brown. Belongs to the chrysogramma-compsogramma group, but differs from the former in having five yellow fasciae instead of four, and from the latter in the arrangement of the third and fourth fasciae, which do not form a definite loop as in that species. ^[3]

Philpott states that a form of this species can be found in the Hunter Mountains where the fasciae are tinged an orange red colour. ^[3]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. ^[1] It has been observed in Southland, Otago including in Dunedin and a specimen has also been collected on Kapiti Island. ^{[3] [6] [7]}

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing from November to February. ^[3]

Habitat

This species inhabits native forest. ^[3]

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 (14 December 1923), Notes and descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera, vol. 54, pp. 151–152, Wikidata   Q109354500
4. George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington, p. 261, 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. "Tingena xanthodesma". Auckland Museum Collections Online. 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
7. "Tingena xanthodesma". Auckland Museum Collections Online. 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.