Asterivora tristis

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Asterivora tristis
Asterivora tristis AMNZ21801.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Choreutidae
Genus:
Asterivora
Species:
A. tristis
Binomial name
Asterivora tristis
(Philpott, 1930)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Simaethis tristis Philpott, 1930

Asterivora tristis is a species of moth in the family Choreutidae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Tongariro National Park. Adults of this species are on the wing in January.

Taxonomy[]

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1930, using specimens collected on the slopes of Mount Ruapehu at Tongariro National Park in January, and named Simaethis inspoliata.[3] In 1939 George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under that name.[4] In 1979 placed this species within the genus Asterivora.[5] In 1988 Dugdale confirmed this placement.[2] The male holotype specimen is held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[2]

Description[]

Illustration of A. tristis by George Hudson.

Philpott described this species as follows:

♂. 10-11 mm. Head and thorax dark brown sprinkled with white. Palpi white annulated with black. Antennae black annulated with white, ciliations in ♂ 2. Abdomen dark brown, segmental divisions whitish. Legs dark brown mixed with white. Forewings with costa moderately arched, apex rounded, termen hardly rounded, oblique; deep blackish fuscous densely sprinkled with bluish white scales which tend to form fasciae at base, 1⁄3 and 3⁄4 ; a short streak of whitish scales along termen above tornus; usually a rather conspicuous white spot on costa at 3⁄4; fringes dark drown, tipped with white at tornus and beneath apex. Hindwings dark purplish fuscous; a very obscure whitish fascia from tornus to about middle of wing, sometimes absent: fringes brown, more or less mixed with white and with a broad purplish fuscous basal band.[3]

This species is similar to A. albifasciata but lacks the distinguishing whitish sub-terminal shade of the later species.[4]

Distribution[]

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Tongariro National Park.[1]

Behaviour[]

The adults of this species are on the wing in January.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 457. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. ^ a b c John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 14: 114. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2021.
  3. ^ a b Alfred Philpott (1930). "New Species of Lepidoptera in the Collection of the Auckland Museum". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 1: 12–13. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905932. Wikidata Q58676529.
  4. ^ a b c George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington, p. 457, Wikidata Q109420935
  5. ^ J. S. Dugdale (July 1979). "A new generic name for the New Zealand species previously assigned to Simaethis auctorum (Lepidoptera: Choreutidae), with description of a new species". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 6 (3): 461–466. doi:10.1080/03014223.1979.10428386. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q54576372.
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