Austramathes pessota

Austramathes pessota
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Noctuidae
Genus: Austramathes
Species: A. pessota
Binomial name
Austramathes pessota
(Meyrick, 1887)
Synonyms
  • Miselia pessota Edward Meyrick, 1887
  • Sympistis pessota (Meyrick, 1887)
  • Hypnotype pessota (Meyrick, 1887)
  • Andesia pessota (Meyrick, 1887)

Austramathes pessota is a species of moth in the Noctuidae family.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand.[2]

Taxonomy

A. pessota was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1887 under the name Miselia pessota.[3] In 1906 this species was tentatively placed in the Sympistis genus by Hampson.[4] Meyrick, in 1911, disagreed with this placement but somewhat doubtfully suggested placing the species in the Hypnotype genus.[5] Meyrick again reconsidered the taxonomy of this species in 1914 and placed it within the Andesia genus.[6] Robert J. B. Hoare studied the species and placed it within the Austramathes genus in 2017.[1]

Description

George Hudson described the species as follows:

The expansion of the wings is 1 inch. The fore-wings are dull purplish-brown ; there is an oblong black mark at the base of the dorsum containing a slender curved white line ; the orbicular is rather small, round, margined first with dull white and then with black ; the reniform is large, oblong, dull white, margined with pale ochreous towards the base of the wing ; there is a conspicuous oblong black mark between the orbicular and reniform stigmata. The hind-wings are dull grey, with the cilia paler.[7]

Distribution

A. pessota can be found in Northland, in the southern North Island and in the South Island, mainly on the eastern side that island.[1]

Host species

Larvae of this species feed on Melicytus alpinus and Hoare states it is likely that Melicytus micranthus is also a host.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Hoare, R.J.B. (23 June 2017). "Noctuinae (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Part 1, Austramathes, Cosmodes, Proteuxoa, Physetica" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 73: 1–130. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.73.
  2. ↑ "Austramathes pessota (Meyrick, 1887)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-03-30.
  3. ↑ Meyrick, Edward (1887). "Monograph of New Zealand Noctuina". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 19: 3–40 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ↑ Hampson, George Francis (1906). "Catalogue of the Noctuidae in the collection of the British Museum". Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British museum. 6: 1–532 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. ↑ Meyrick, Edward (1912). "A revision of the classification of the New Zealand Caradrinina". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 44: 88–107 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  6. ↑ Meyrick, Edward (1914). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 46: 101–118 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  7. ↑ Hudson, George Vernon (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & co. p. 6. Retrieved 30 March 2018.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera), by George Vernon Hudson (1898)


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