Tingena penthalea
Male lectotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Genus: Tingena
Species:
T. penthalea
Binomial name
Tingena penthalea
(Meyrick, 1905)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Borkhausenia penthalea Meyrick, 1905

Tingena penthalea is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Wellington and the Tararua Range. The adults of this species are on the wing from December until February.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1905 using three specimens collected in Wellington.[3] Meyrick originally named the species Borkhausenia penthalea.[3] In 1915 Meyrick discussed this species under the same name.[4] In 1926 Alfred Philpott discussed and illustrated the genitalia of the male of this species.[5] In 1928 George Hudson also discussed and illustrated this species in his book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[6] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the genus Tingena.[2] The male lectotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

T. penthalea as illustrated by George Hudson.

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂ ♀. 15-17 mm. Head pale brownish-ochreous, whitish-sprinkled. Palpi ochreous-whitish, second joint with basal half dark fuscous and a subapical ring of dark fuscous irroration, terminal joint with subbasal and subapical rings of dark fuscous irroration. Antennae grey, ciliations of ♂ 1. Thorax pale brownish-ochreous sprinkled with fuscous, anteriorly suffused with dark fuscous. Abdomen light grey. Fore-wings elongate, costa moderately arched, apex obtuse, termen very obliquely rounded ; whitish-ochreous, irrorated with light brownish, with some dark fuscous scales towards margins, sometimes forming distinct patches of dark suffusion on costa at base, 1⁄4, and middle ; an oblique dark fuscous mark above dorsum before middle ; discal stigmata crescentic, dark fuscous, hollow beneath, often ill-defined ; a moderately broad subterminal fuscous or brown fascia, irrorated with dark fuscous, narrowed towards costa and on tornus : cilia whitish-ochreous irrorated with fuscous, at tornus with a darker bar above a pale spot. Hind-wings light grey, darker towards apex ; cilia grey-whitish, with grey basal shade.[3]

This species variable in appearance with the brown patch of the forewings sometimes dividing into two distinct spots.[6] The ground colour of this species also varies with some specimens being whiter than others.[6] Also the discal spots may be more orange-brown coloured in some specimens.[6]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Wellington, including on Kapiti Island, and in the Tararua Range.[1][6][7] It was regarded by Hudson as a rare species.[6]

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing from December until February.[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tingena penthalea.
  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 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: 104. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 3 Edward Meyrick (15 July 1905). "XII. Notes on New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 53 (2): 239. doi:10.1111/J.1365-2311.1905.TB02451.X. ISSN 0035-8894. Wikidata Q54553180.
  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. ↑ 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.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 269, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  7. ↑ "Tingena penthalea". Auckland Museum Collections Online. 2021. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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