Chrysorthenches drosochalca
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Plutellidae
Genus: Chrysorthenches
Species:
C. drosochalca
Binomial name
Chrysorthenches drosochalca
(Meyrick, 1905)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Orthenches drosochalca Meyrick, 1905

Chrysorthenches drosochalca is a species of moth in the family Plutellidae first described by Edward Meyrick in 1905.[3] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been found in the North and South Islands. The larvae are leaf miners of Prumnopitys ferruginea. Adults are on the wing from January to March.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1905 using specimens collected at Otira Gorge and Wellington and named Orthenches drosochalca.[4] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[5] In 1996 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Chrysorthenches.[2] The male lectotype, collected by George Hudson in Wellington, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[6][2]

Description

Illustration of C. drosochalca by Hudson.

Hudson described the larva and pupa of this species as follows:

The larva ... is about 1⁄4 inch in length, cylindrical tapering at each end with the segmental divisions deeply excised, uniform dark green and shining. The pupa is enclosed in a small oval cocoon fastened to a fern frond.[5]

Meyrick described the adults of this species as follows:

♂♀. 11mm. Head and thorax leaden-grey. Palpi dark fuscous, inwardly and towards base white, terminal joint half as long again as second (1+1⁄2). Antennae dark fuscous, ringed with white. Abdomen grey, towards base pale ochreous, apex in ♂ whitish. Fore-wings elongate, costa moderately arched, apex pointed, termen sinuate, rather strongly oblique, rounded beneath ; 7 to termen ; shining coppery-bronze ; four oblique fasciae of white irroration, first slender, second antemedian, broader, third angulated, considerably enlarged towards costa, fourth forming an apical patch extended along termen ; a spot on base of costa, an interrupted streak along submedian fold, and a spot above middle of disc purple ; a dark fuscous-purple transverse mark in disc at 2⁄3, in third fascia : cilia light grey, above apex spotted basally with purplish. Hind-wings ovate-lanceolate, apex acute, termen sinuate ; light grey, darker posteriorly ; cilia whitish-grey.[4]

This species is variable in size and in the intensity of the ground colour of the forewings.[5] It can be distinguished from similar appearing species as its forewings have very scattered white scales as well as a more brassy foreground colour.[2]

Distribution

C. drosochalca is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It has been observed in both the North and South Islands.[5]

Behaviour

The larvae feed in January.[5] Adults are on the wing from January until March.[5] The species has been collected by beating Prumnopitys ferruginea.[5] When resting the forewings are closed giving the moth the appearance of a cylinder.[5] Both the larvae and the adult moth appear to overwinter.[2]

Hosts

Larval host P. ferruginea.

The larval host of this species is Prumnopitys ferruginea with the larvae of C. drosochaica mining the leaves of its host.[2]

DNA analysis

In 2020 this species along with the other species in the genus Chrysorthenches had their morphological characters studied.[7]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chrysorthenches drosochalca.
  1. 1 2 "Chrysorthenches drosochalca (Meyrick, 1905)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 J. S. Dugdale (January 1996). "Chrysorthenches new genus, conifer‐associated plutellid moths (Yponomeutoidea, Lepidoptera) in New Zealand and Australia". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 23 (1): 33–59. doi:10.1080/03014223.1996.9518064. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q54576386.
  3. ↑ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 463. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  4. 1 2 Edward Meyrick (15 July 1905). "XII. Notes on New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 53 (2): 242. doi:10.1111/J.1365-2311.1905.TB02451.X. ISSN 0035-8894. Wikidata Q54553180.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 328, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  6. ↑ 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: 74. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  7. ↑ Jae-Cheon Sohn; Shigeki Kobayashi; Yutaka Yoshiyasu (10 March 2020). "Beyond Wallace: a new lineage of Chrysorthenches (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutoidea: Glyphipterigidae) reveals a journey tracking its host-plants, Podocarpus (Pinopsida: Podocarpaceae)" (PDF). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 190 (2): 709–736. doi:10.1093/ZOOLINNEAN/ZLAA009. ISSN 1096-3642. Wikidata Q106700659.
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