This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1889 using a specimen collected at Arthur's Pass at 600m above sea-level.[3][1] Meyrick originally named the species Nepticula propalaea.[3]George Hudson discussed this species under that name in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.[4] In 1988 John S. Dugdale assigned this species to the genus Stigmella.[1] In 1989 Hans Donner and Christopher Wilkinson agreed with this placement in their monograph on New Zealand Nepticulidae.[5] This placement was again confirmed in a 2016 revision of the global species placed in the family Nepticulidae.[2] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[1] This species is only known from its holotype and the specimen is in poor condition.[5]
Description
Meyrick described the species as follows:
♀. 7mm. Head, palpi, antennæ, and thorax whitish-ochreous. Abdomen light grey. Legs whitish-ochreous, anterior pair infuscated. Forewings lanceolate; whitish-ochreous, obscurely irrorated with brownish; a dark fuscous dot on fold at 1⁄4, a second in disc before middle, and a third immediately before apex: cilia whitish-ochreous. Hindwings light grey; cilia whitish-ochreous-grey.[3]
Distribution
It is endemic to New Zealand.[6][7] This species is only known from its type locality of Arthur's Pass.[5]
Biology and behaviour
The adult moths are on the wing in January.[4] As at 1989 the female of this species has yet to be collected.[5]
^ abcMeyrick, Edward (1889). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 21: 154–188. Retrieved 3 June 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
