Notoreas ischnocyma

Notoreas ischnocyma
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Notoreas
Species:
N. ischnocyma
Binomial name
Notoreas ischnocyma

Notoreas ischnocyma is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. This species is endemic to New Zealand. This species is found in Canterbury and Otago.

Taxonomy

New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (1898) plate 8 fig 27

Notoreas ischnocyma was described by Edward Meyrick in 1905 using material collected at Castle Hill by George Hudson at an elevation of 1700 meters.[1][2] Hudson had previously illustrated the specimen in his 1898 book New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera) but had included it within the species N. isoleuca.[3][4] Hudson subsequently agreed with Meyrick and discussed and illustrated this species under the new species name in The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.[5]

The genus Notoreas was reviewed in 1986 by R. C. Craw and the placement of this species within it was confirmed.[6] However species within the genus Notoreas are currently regarded as being in need of revision.[7] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[3]

Description

Meyrick described the species as follows:

♂︎. 20 mm. Head and thorax dark fuscous. Fore-wings triangular, costa slightly arched, termen obliquely rounded; dark fuscous, with some scattered yellow-whitish scales; subbasal, first, median,second, and subterminal lines slender, whitish, subbasal straight, first nearly straight, somewhat irregular, median indistinct, curved outwards in disc, second waved throughout, angulated in middle, indented beneath middle, subterminal irregularly waved: cilia white, basal half barred with dark fuscous. Hind-wings with ground colour, median, second, and subterminal lines, and cilia as in fore-wings.[2]

N. ischnocyma can be distinguished from similar species by the slender second wavy line on its forewings.[2][5]

Distribution

Castle Hill

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[8][9] Other than the type locality of Castle Hill, N. ischnocyma has also been found in the Hawkdun and the Dansey ecological districts in Otago.[10][11]

Biology and behaviour

This day flying species is on the wing in December and January.[5][11]

Habitat and host species

This species inhabits high alpine stunted vegetation and herb fields.[5][11] Larvae of species within the genus Notoreas feed exclusively on plants within the genera Pimelea and Kelleria.[12]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Notoreas ischnocyma.
  1. ^ a b "Notoreas ischnocyma Meyrick, 1905". www.nzor.org.nz. Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  2. ^ a b c Meyrick, Edward (1905). "Notes on New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions of the Entomological Society of London. 1905: 219–244 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ^ a b Dugdale, John S. (1988-09-23). Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa (PDF). Vol. 14. pp. 1–264. ISBN 978-0-477-02518-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2018-12-09 – via Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Hudson, G. V. (1898). New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & co. pp. plate viii fig. 27. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.32466. OCLC 727236768.
  5. ^ a b c d Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. p. 126. OCLC 25449322.
  6. ^ Craw, R.C. (5 January 2012). "Review of the genus Notoreas (sensu auctorum) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 13 (1): 131–140. doi:10.1080/03014223.1986.10422654.
  7. ^ Hoare, R. J. B; Rhode, B.E.; Emmerson, A.W. (2011). "Larger moths of New Zealand: Image gallery and online guide". Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  8. ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 460. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  9. ^ "Notoreas ischnocyma Meyrick, 1905". www.nzor.org.nz. Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  10. ^ Patrick, Brian H. (1994). Hawkdun Ecological District invertebrate survey. 0113-3713. Vol. 64. Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Conservation. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.227.2484. ISBN 978-0478015539. ISSN 0113-3713. OCLC 53885579.
  11. ^ a b c Patrick, Brian H. (1991). Insects of the Dansey ecological district (PDF). Wellington [N.Z.]: Department of Conservation. pp. 7, 18. ISBN 978-0478012859. ISSN 0113-3713. OCLC 154612987.
  12. ^ Patrick, BH; Hoare, RJB; Rhode, BE (December 2010). "Taxonomy and conservation of allopatric moth populations: a revisionary study of the Notoreas perornata Walker complex (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae), with special reference to southern New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 37 (4): 257–283. doi:10.1080/03014223.2010.511127.