Pasiphila plinthina
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Pasiphila
Species:
P. plinthina
Binomial name
Pasiphila plinthina
Synonyms[2]
  • Chloroclystis plinthina (Meyrick, 1888)

Pasiphila plinthina is a moth in the family Geometridae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in both the North, South and Stewart Islands. It is on the wing mainly from June until September with occasional observations up to December, and is attracted to light. This species is similar in appearance to P. sandycias but can be distinguished from it as P. plinthina has palpi that are longer and has more blurred forewing markings.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1888.[3] The male holotype specimen was collected by A. Purdie in July in Wellington and it is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2] George Hudson in his 1898 book New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera) placed this species in the Chloroclystis genus.[4] Hudson confirmed this placement in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[5] However, in 1988 J. S. Dugdale, in his catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera, returned this species to the Pasiphila genus.[2] In 2012 this placement was confirmed in the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity.[6]

Description

Observation of living P. plinthina.

Meyrick described the species as follows:

Male. — 19 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen whitish-ochreous, irrorated with reddish. Palpi 3, whitish-ochreous, towards base blackish beneath. Antennae whitish-ochreous, spotted with fuscous above, ciliations 4. Legs blackish, apex of joints ochreous-whitish, posterior pair wholly pale whitish-ochreous. Forewings with hindmargin very oblique, somewhat bowed, slightly sinuate above anal angle ; whitish-ochreous, suffusedly irrorated with reddish, tending to form very obscure lines ; a blackish irroration towards costa on basal fourth ; edge of median band marked by series of black dots on veins, anterior from 3⁄8 of costa to 2⁄5 of inner margin, curved, posterior from before 3⁄4 of costa to 2⁄3 of inner margin, upper 2⁄3 tolerably regularly curved ; a pale waved subterminal line preceded by a reddish fascia, forming a darker red spot above middle, another above anal angle, and a blackish costal spot ; a black hindmarginal line : cilia ochreous-whitish, with an obscure reddish line, basal half with reddish-fuscous spots on veins. Hindwings with hind-margin unevenly rounded, upper half rather deeply sinuate ; pale whitish-ochreous, with obscure waved reddish lines except towards costa ; a conspicuous black discal dot before middle ; posterior edge of median band and a subterminal line more strongly marked ; a blackish hindmarginal line ; cilia as in forewings.[3]

This species is similar in appearance to P. sandycias with which it has been confused.[5] It can be distinguished from this species as its palpi are longer and has more blurred forewing markings.[5]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It is found in the North, South Islands and Stewart Islands.[7][8][5]

Behaviour

P. plinthina is on the wing mainly from June until September with occasional observations up to December, and as such it is regarded as a winter specialist.[7] P. plinthina are attracted to light.[8] Hudson explained that this species could sometimes be found resting on tree trunks but that it was more often collected when dislodged from foliage.[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pasiphila plinthina.
  1. 1 2 3 "Pasiphila plinthina Meyrick, 1888". www.nzor.org.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  2. 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: 186. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 Edward Meyrick (May 1888). "Notes on New Zealand Geometrina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 20: 49–50. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q108281219.
  4. 1 2 George Vernon Hudson (1898), New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera), Illustrator: George Hudson, London, p. 41, doi:10.5962/BHL.TITLE.7912, OCLC 980865393, Wikidata Q19073637{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. 1 2 3 4 George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, pp. 90–91, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  6. ↑ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  7. 1 2 Alan Emmerson; Robert Hoare (28 October 2019). "Lepidoptera from Redvale, Albany, north of Auckland, New Zealand, 2004-2016: an annotated list". The Wētā. 53: 43–70. ISSN 0111-7696. Wikidata Q105342215.
  8. 1 2 Brian M. Lyford (January 1994). "Lepidoptera and Trichoptera from Paroa, near Greymouth, New Zealand". New Zealand Entomologist. 17 (1): 46–51. doi:10.1080/00779962.1994.9721984. ISSN 0077-9962. Wikidata Q57483705.
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