Epyaxa rosearia

New Zealand looper
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Epyaxa
Species: E. rosearia
Binomial name
Epyaxa rosearia
(Doubleday, 1843)
Synonyms
  • Cidaria rosearia Doubleday, 1843
  • Larentia subductata Walker, 1862
  • Coremia ardularia Guenèe, 1868
  • Coremia inamaenaria Guenèe, 1868
  • Xanthorhoe homalocyma Meyrick, 1902

Epyaxa rosearia, the New Zealand looper, is a moth of the Geometridae family. It is endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

E. rosearia was first described by Henry Doubleday in 1843 and named Cidaria rosearia.[1][2]

Description

The eggs of this species are pale yellow in colour and are oval in shape with a smooth shell.[3]

Alex Purdie describes the caterpillar of this species as:

Length, at rest, about three- quarters of an inch. Colour light-green, with indistinct whitish longitudinal lines, and a narrow median dorsal stripe of the ground colour, edged on each side by one of these whitish lines ; a subdorsal whitish line on each side of the median stripe; the ground colour shows again as a lateral line, edged below with whitish. Under-side with delicate whitish or yellowish longitudinal tracings, as on the upper side. The junctions of the segments show yellowish or whitish rings when the larva contracts. Head, greenish-yellow. Body tapering somewhat to the head.[3]

The caterpillars form a chrysalis that is glossy and very dark brownish-black in colour.[3] They can be found amongst the leaves of the forest floor.[4] E. rosearia adults are varied in appearance. They can have a pinkish tinge or can be brownish in hue although olive-green colouration is also common.[4]

Distribution

E. rosearia are very common throughout New Zealand.[4]

Host species

While it is endemic to New Zealand,[5] the larvae have so far only been recorded feeding on exotic plant species: Nasturtium officinale, Plantago lanceolata Trifolium ambiguum, Trifolium repens, Tropaeolum majus.[6] The larvae also seem to feed on the leaves of Trifolium caucasicum.

References

  1. ↑ "Cidaria rosearia Doubleday, 1843". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
  2. ↑ Dieffenbach, E. (1843). "List of Annulose Animals hitherto recorded as found in New Zealand with descriptions of some new species by Messrs. Adam White and Edward Doubleday.". Travels in New Zealand: with contributions to the geography, geology, botany and natural history of the country. 2. London: John Murray. p. 285.
  3. 1 2 3 Purdie, A. (1885). "Life History of Epyaxa rosearia, Dbld". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 18: 208–209 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. 1 2 3 Hoare, Robert J. B. (2014). A photographic guide to moths & butterflies of New Zealand. Ball, Olivier. Auckland: New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd. p. 95. ISBN 9781869663995. OCLC 891672034.
  5. ↑ "Epyaxa rosearia (Doubleday, 1843)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  6. ↑ "PlantSynz - Invertebrate herbivore biodiversity assessment tool: Database". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. 2011. Retrieved 2018-01-14.


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