Tingena apanthes
Male lectotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Genus: Tingena
Species:
T. apanthes
Binomial name
Tingena apanthes
(Meyrick, 1883)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Oecophora apanthes Meyrick, 1883
  • Borkhausenia apanthes (Meyrick, 1883)

Tingena apanthes is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and found on the North Island. The adults are on the wing from October to December. It appears associated with Leptospermum species and it has been hypothesised that the appearance of the adults of this species imitates faded Leptospermum leaves.

Taxonomy

Dubious illustration of T. apanthes by George Hudson.

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1883 using specimens collected at Hamilton and Cambridge in January and named Oecophora apanthes.[3][4] Meyrick gave a more detailed description under this name in 1884.[4] In 1915 Meyrick placed this species within the Borkhausenia genus.[5] In 1926 Alfred Philpott was unable to study the genitalia of the male of this species as a result of no specimens being available in New Zealand collections.[6] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under the name B. apanthes in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[7] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Tingena.[2] He also discussed Hudson's illustration of this species and alleged that it was dubious as Dugdale regarded the illustration as too yellow for T. apanthes.[2] The male lectotype, collected in Cambridge, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

Meyrick first described this species as follows:

Fore wings pale whitish-ochreous, a blackish streak on base of costa, a small apical spot, sometimes three discal dots and a bar from anal angle dark fuscous ; hind wings whitish grey ; thorax pale whitish-ochreous, with a dark fuscous interior spot on each shoulder.[3]

Meyrick described this species in more detail as follows:

Male. — 14+1⁄2 mm. Head pale whitish-ochreous. Palpi pale whitish-ochreous, basal 1⁄3 of second joint and lower half of terminal joint externally irrorated with dark fuscous. Antennae dark fuscous. Thorax pale whitish-ochreous, with an oblong dark fuscous spot on each shoulder not touching lateral margin. Abdomen ochreous-whitish. Anterior legs dark fuscous ; middle legs ochreous-whitish irrorated with dark fuscous except at apex of joints ; posterior legs ochreous-whitish. Forewings moderate, costa moderately arched, apex obtuse, hindmargin rounded, rather strongly oblique ; pale whitish-ochreous, slightly suffused with pale yellowish ; basal third of costa broadly dark fuscous ; a dark fuscous dot in disc before middle, a second beyond middle, and a third on fold directly beneath first, first and third sometimes obsolete ; sometimes a bar of scattered dark fuscous scales between second dot and anal angle ; some scattered dark fuscous scales at apex and towards hindmargin : cilia ochreous-whitish, sometimes with scattered grey points, and with a cloudy dark fuscous spot at apex, and a grey spot at anal angle. Hindwings whitish-grey ; cilia whitish.[4]

Distribution

Cambridge, type locality of T. apanthes

It is endemic to New Zealand and has been collected in Wellington as well as Hamilton and Cambridge.[1][7]

Behaviour and habitat

This species is on the wing from October to May.[8] Hudson commented it was associated with Manuka scrub and that it was likely its appearance imitated faded Manuka leaves.[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tingena apanthes.
  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 3 4 5 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: 99. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 Edward Meyrick (September 1883). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera.—III.—Oecophoridae". New Zealand Journal of Science. 1: 524. Wikidata Q106368126.
  4. 1 2 3 Edward Meyrick (1884). "Descriptions of New Zealand Microlepidoptera. III. Oecophoridae". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 16: 41–42. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63976486.
  5. ↑ E. Meyrick (12 July 1915). "Revision of New Zealand Tineina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 47: 212. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63123349.
  6. ↑ Alfred Philpott (1926). "List of New Zealand species of Borkhausenia (Oecophoridae: Lepidoptera), including new species". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 56: 399–413. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q110157185.
  7. 1 2 3 George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 263, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  8. ↑ 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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.