Tingena contextella
Male lectotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Genus: Tingena
Species:
T. contextella
Binomial name
Tingena contextella
(Walker, 1864)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Gelechia contextella Walker, 1864
  • Borkhausenia contextella (Walker, 1864)

Tingena contextella is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has found in the North and South Islands. The larvae of this species feed on leaf litter.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Frances Walker in 1864 using specimen collected by T. R. Oxley in Nelson.[3][2] In 1915 Meyrick placed this species within the Borkhausenia genus and synonymised it with Borkhausenia plagiatella.[4] George Hudson discussed this species as a synonym of B. plagiatella in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[5] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale removed this species from this synonymy and placed this species in the genus Tingena.[2] The male lectotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

Walker described this species as follows:

Male. Cinereous, shining and with an aeneous tinge beneath. Palpi much longer than the breadth of the head; second joint black towards the base ; third lanceolate, much shorter than the second. Antennae smooth, slender, much shorter than the fore wings. Wings moderately broad, rounded at the tips ; fringe moderately long. Fore wings partly tinged with aeneous, irregularly speckled with black scales, which also form an oblique mark hindward before the middle, a dot in the middle of the disk, a smaller mark on the interior border, and two transverse undulating submarginal lines, which are dilated towards the costa ; exterior border very oblique. Hind wings shining, with a slight aeneous tinge. Length of the body 3 lines ; of the wings 8 lines.[3]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in not just the type locality of Nelson but also in the Wellington region.[1][6]

Behaviour

The larvae of this species feed on leaf litter.[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tingena contextella.
  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: 101. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 Francis Walker (1864), List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, Part XXIX. - Tineites, London, p. 656, Wikidata Q110191308{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ↑ E. Meyrick (12 July 1915). "Revision of New Zealand Tineina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 47: 213. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63123349.
  5. ↑ George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 270, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  6. 1 2 Patrick, Brian H. (2004). Coastal butterflies and moths of Wellington and south Wairarapa (PDF) (Report) – via Department of Conservation.
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