Helastia corcularia
Female
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Helastia
Species:
H. corcularia
Binomial name
Helastia corcularia
(Guenée, 1868)
Synonyms[1]
  • Larentia corcularia Guenée, 1868
  • Xanthorhoe corcularia (Guenée, 1868)
  • Larentia infantaria Guenée, 1868
  • Xanthorhoe infantaria (Guenée, 1868)

Helastia corcularia is a moth of the family Geometridae.[2] This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found only in the South Island and the Chatham Islands. It inhabits a wide variety of habitats including native forest and scrubland, gardens, parks, subalpine and coastal areas. Larvae feed on herbs, lichen and moss. The adults of the species are on the wing from September until May and are nocturnal and attracted to light. H. corcularia is considered an orchard and pack house contaminant.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1868 using a specimen collected in Christchurch by Richard William Fereday and named Larentia corcularia.[3][1] In the same publication and thinking he was describing another new species, Guenée also named this species Larentia infantaria.[3] Robin C. Craw when revising this species in 1987 synonymised L. infantaria with L. corcularia.[4] In 1877 Arthur Gardiner Butler synonymised H. corcularia with the species H. semisignata.[5] This was followed by subsequent authors, including George Hudson in his 1928 publication, until Craw pointed out that the genitalia of both male and female specimens of H. corcularia were distinctly differently shaped from H. semisignata.[6][4] The male holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[1]

Description

Observation of female H. corcularia.

Guenée described this species as follows:

It has some relationship with our salicata, of which it has scarcely the size, but almost the colour. One sees in it almost the same lines, which are equally denticulated and badly marked ; the two median are better marked, or rather it should be said that the space they limit tends to become darker in their vicinity ; small, very fine white dots follow the elbow hne, and others indicate the subterminal ; the fringe is lightly sinuated with blackish : inferior wings slightly paler, with the line a little distinct ; beneath they are whitish-grey, with the same punctiform lines. Palpi forming a sort of beak almost as long as the head. Antennae furnished with long and very fine pectinations. The ♀ resembles the ♂ , but the antennae are filiform.[3]

This species is distinguishable from H. semisignata as it is a slightly larger moth and there are distinct differences when the genitalia of a specimen is examined.[4] H. semisignata can only be found in the North Island.[7]

Distribution

H. corcularia is endemic to New Zealand and is found throughout the South Island as well as in the Chatham Islands.[8][4]

Habitat and hosts

This species inhabits a wide variety of habitats including native forest, scrubland, gardens, parks, coastal areas and subalpine herbfields.[4][7] Larvae have been observed feeding on lichens and herbs.[9][10] Larvae are also said to feed on moss.[11]

Behaviour

The adults are on the wing from September until May.[12] They are nocturnal and are attracted to light.[4][13]

Interactions with humans

This species is regarded as an orchard and pack house contaminant.[14]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helastia corcularia.
  1. 1 2 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: 181. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. 1 2 3 Achille Guenée (1868). "New species, &c., of heterocerous Lepidoptera from Canterbury, New Zealand, collected by Mr. R. W. Fereday". Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 5: 61–62. ISSN 0013-8908. Wikidata Q104214297.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 R. C. Craw (April 1987). "Revision of the genus Helastia sensu stricto with description of a new genus (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 14 (2): 269–293. doi:10.1080/03014223.1987.10422997. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q54670161.
  5. ↑ Arthur G. Butler (1877). "On two Collections of Heterocerous Lepidoptera from New Zealand, with descriptions of new Genera and Species". Journal of Zoology. 1877: 394. ISSN 1469-7998. Wikidata Q109479517.
  6. ↑ George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 113, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  7. 1 2 Robert J. B. Hoare (2014). A Photographic Guide to Moths & Butterflies of New Zealand. Illustrator: Olivier Jean-Philippe Ball. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-86966-399-5. Wikidata Q59396160.
  8. ↑ "Helastia corcularia (Guenee, 1868)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  9. ↑ Brian H. Patrick (1991). Insects of the Dansey Ecological District (PDF). Vol. 32. pp. 1–25. ISBN 0-478-01285-3. ISSN 0113-3713. Wikidata Q110318301. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 December 2021. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  10. ↑ Hamish J. H. Patrick; Mike H. Bowie; Barry W. Fox; Brian H. Patrick (2011). "The moths of Quail Island (Ōtamahua): a faunal comparison of an island under restoration with other sites on Banks Peninsula". New Zealand Natural Sciences. 36. doi:10.26021/583. ISSN 0113-7492. Wikidata Q97665452.
  11. ↑ Crown Pastoral Land Tenure Review Castle Dent Conservation Resources Report - Part 1 (PDF) (Report). Land Information New Zealand. August 2005.
  12. ↑ "Helastia corcularia". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  13. ↑ "Phil Bendle Collection:Helastia corcularia - CitSciHub". www.citscihub.nz. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  14. ↑ "Importation of Apples from New Zealand" (PDF). www.agriculture.gov.au. 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
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