Mallobathra memotuina
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Psychidae
Genus: Mallobathra
Species:
M. memotuina
Binomial name
Mallobathra memotuina
Clarke, 1934[1]

Mallobathra memotuina is a moth of the family Psychidae.[1] It was described by Charles Edwin Clarke in 1934.This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in and around Dunedin. Adults are on the wing in November and December and have been collected just before sunrise.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Charles Edwin Clarke in 1934 using two specimens collected on the face of Vauxhall Cliff at Andersons Bay in Dunedin.[2] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his book A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[3] J. S. Dugdale confirmed the placement of this species in the genus Mallobathra in 1971.[4] The male holotype, although said to be held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, was not able to be located 1988, however the museum holds three allotype specimens.[5][6]

Description

Illustration by Hudson.

Clarke described the species as follows:

♂ 12 mm. ♀ 14 mm. Head and palpi purplish and fuscous brown. Antennae dark fuscous with admixture of ochreous; ciliations in ♂ 2. Thorax and abdomen dark purplish brown; legs purplish brown mixed with ochreous and annulated on tibia and tarsi. Forewings elongate; costa moderately arched, apex rather acutely rounded, termen strongly oblique; purplish fuscous with 5 to 6 ochreous white fasciae from costa. Basal one is at about ⅙ outwardly oblique, second at ⅓ inwardly oblique, the third at ½ broken in centre of wing after waving outwardly, then inwardly to dorsum, the fourth at ⅔ more straight to dorsum, but sometimes broken and spotted with purplish, fifth and sixth close together before apical patch, outwardly oblique; cilia dark fuscous. Hindwings dark fuscous; cilia fuscous, apically pale.[2]

Distribution

M. memotuina is endemic to New Zealand.[1] This species has been observed in and around Dunedin.[7]

Behaviour

Adults of this species have been collected just before the sun rises.[2][8] Adults are on the wing in November and December.[3]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mallobathra memotuina.
  1. 1 2 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.
  2. 1 2 3 Charles E. Clarke (May 1934). "Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 64: 14. ISSN 1176-6166. Wikidata Q110090429.
  3. 1 2 George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 469, OCLC 9742724, Wikidata Q109420935 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  4. ↑ J. S. Dugdale (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae" (PDF). Pacific Insects Monographs. 27: 139. ISSN 0078-7515. Wikidata Q64006453.
  5. ↑ 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: 68. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  6. ↑ Arthur William Baden Powell (1941). "Biological Primary Types in the Auckland Museum". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 2: 239–259. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905985. Wikidata Q58676616.
  7. ↑ "Mallobathra memotuina". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2024-01-07.
  8. ↑ Charles E. Clarke (February 1933). "The Lepidoptera of the Te Anau-Manapouri Lakes Districts". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 63 (2): 115. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q62934927.
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