Asaphodes cataphracta
Female
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Asaphodes
Species:
A. cataphracta
Binomial name
Asaphodes cataphracta
(Meyrick, 1883)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Larentia cataphracta Meyrick, 1883
  • Xanthorhoe cataphracta (Meyrick, 1883)

Asaphodes cataphracta is a moth in the family Geometridae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the South Island. This species prefers grassy or tussock covered mountain side slopes as habitat. The adults of this species are on the wing from December until March. The larvae of A. cataphracta is known to consume native mountain buttercups (Ranunculaceae).

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1883 as Larentia cataphracta using specimens collected at Arthur's Pass at 3,000 feet, Lake Guyon, and Lake Wakatipu at 4,000 feet.[3][4] Meyrick gave a fuller description of the species later in 1884.[4] George Hudson discussed the species in his 1898 volume New Zealand moths and butterflies and referred to it as Xanthorhoe cataphracta.[5] In 1971 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Asaphodes.[6] This placement was reaffirmed by Dugdale in 1988.[2] The female lectotype, collected at Arthur's Pass, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

Illustration of female A. cataphracta by George Hudson.

Hudson described the species as follows:

The fore-wings are dull yellowish-brown, with numerous slightly waved oblique black and white transverse bands ; one very broad white band is situated near the middle, and another at about three-fourths ; there is a broad longitudinal reddish-brown line on the costal edge, in which the transverse lines almost disappear ; there is also a pale, somewhat triangular, area at the apex. The hind-wings are very pale greyish-ochreous. The cilia of all the wings are very pale ochreous. The female is duller and paler than the male.[5]

Distribution and habitat

Observation of live A. cataphracta.

A. cataphracta is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the South Island.[1][7] It prefers grassy mountain side slopes as habitat.[5] Specimens of this species have been collected in the North Canterbury (NC) and Westland (WD) specimen collection localities as described by Crosby et al.[2] The species was collected in February in the Mount Cook district by Alfred Philpott[8] as well as at Arthur's Pass to Lake Wakatipu up to 1200m by Meyrick.[3] Hudson stated the species occurred in abundance in the Humboldt mountains.[5] Specimens were also collected in tussock country near the Homer saddle by George Howes.[9]

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing from December until March.[10]

Host species

The larvae of this species is known to consume native mountain buttercups (Ranunculaceae).[11]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asaphodes cataphracta.
Wikispecies has information related to Asaphodes cataphracta.
  1. 1 2 "Asaphodes cataphracta (Meyrick, 1883)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 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: 172. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 Meyrick, Edward (1883). "Monograph of New Zealand Geometrina". New Zealand Journal of Science. 1: 526–531 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. 1 2 Edward Meyrick (May 1884). "A Monograph of the New Zealand Geometrina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 16: 78. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q109615359.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Hudson, G. V. (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & co. p. 61. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.7912.
  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: 55–172. ISSN 0078-7515. Wikidata Q64006453.
  7. ↑ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  8. ↑ Philpott, A. (1930). "The Lepidoptera of Mount Cook District, with descriptions of new species" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 61: 419–439 – via National Library of New Zealand.
  9. ↑ Howes, W. George. "Lepidoptera Collecting at the Homer. With Descriptions of Two New Species" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 73: 90–96 – via National Library of New Zealand.
  10. ↑ George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 119, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  11. ↑ "Mt Aspiring Crown Pastoral Land Tenure Review: Conservation Resources Report - Part 1". www.linz.govt.nz/. Land Information New Zealand. November 2005. p. 91. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
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