Ichneutica sulcana

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Ichneutica sulcana
Tmetolophota sulcana female.jpg
Female
Tmetolophota sulcana male.jpg
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Noctuidae
Genus:
Ichneutica
Species:
I. sulcana
Binomial name
Ichneutica sulcana
(Fereday, 1880)[1]
Synonyms
  • Leucania sulcana Fereday, 1880
  • Tmetolophota sulcana (Fereday 1880)

Ichneutica sulcana is a moth of the family Noctuidae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and can be found throughout the North, South and Stewart Islands at a range of altitudes from the lowlands to the alpine zone. This species prefers to live in native grass, shrub and wetland habitats as well as in native forest. The larval host plants of this species are forest grasses and sedges and larvae have been reared on and species within the genus Carex. The larva pupates in the soil. Adults are on the wing from December to May but have also been recorded in August and September in the northern parts of the North Island. They are attracted to sugar traps as well as to light. I. sulcana and I. supersulcana are very similar in appearance but can be distinguished as there are differences in the male abdomen and genitalia of the two species. Also these two species do not appear to share a range as I. supersulcana seems to prefer to live at higher altitudes than I. sulcana. I. sulcana might also be confused with I. semivittata but I. sulcana is a larger species with a much darker abdomen and hindwing, and has only 1 to 3 dots on the forewing postmedian line.

Taxonomy[]

This species was described by Richard William Fereday in 1880 and originally named Leucania sulcana.[2] The female lectotype was collected Rowe’s Bush in Akaroa by Fereday and is held at the Canterbury Museum.[3] In 1988 placed this species within the Tmetolophota genus.[3] In 2019 undertook a major review of New Zealand Noctuidae. During this review the genus Ichneutica was greatly expanded and the genus Tmetolophota was subsumed into that genus as a synonym. As a result of this review, this species is now known as Ichneutica sulcana.[4]

Description[]

George Hudson described the larva of this species as follows:

The full grown larva is about 1+3⁄4 inch in length, much attenuated posteriorly, pale reddish-ochreous, with numerous fine wavy darker lines; the subdorsal and lateral lines are straight and much more conspicuous; the spiracles are black, and there is a dark olive-green line down the midback.[5]

Observation of live I. sulcana

George Hudson described the adults of I. sulcana as follows:

The expansion of the wings is from 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches. The fore-wings are light ochreous with the veins white; there is a shaded, brownish, longitudinal streak near the apex, another from the end of the cell to the termen, a stronger streak from the base of the wing to near the tornus, and another along the dorsum; there is a minute black dot near the base above the middle, a slightly larger dot at about one-third, a conspicuous dot between the origins of veins 3 and 4, and a very minute dot on vein 6. Hind-wings dark blackish-grey, cilia paler.[6]

The wingspan of the adult male of this species is between 35 and 46 mm and for the female is between 42 and 48 mm.[4] Specimens from the northern North Island can be smaller and have more pronounced shading on the forewing.[4]

I. sulcana and I. supersulcana are very similar in appearance with no reliable visible differences between the two having been discovered.[4] However I. supersulcana tends to be larger and paler with less well defined longitudinal dark streaks to its forewings.[4] There are distinct differences in the male abdomen and genitalia of these two species.[4] As at 2019 the two species have not been discovered to share a range as I. supersulcana appears restricted to the higher altitudes of the Tararua Range and Tongariro National Park.[4] I. sulcana might also be confused with I. semivittata but I. sulcana is a larger species with a much darker abdomen and hindwing, and has only 1 to 3 dots on the forewing postmedian line.[4]

Distribution[]

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[7] I. sulcana are fairly common and are found throughout the North, South and Stewart Islands at a range of altitudes from the lowlands to the alpine zone.[8][4]

Habitat[]

This species prefers to live in native grass, shrub and wetland habitats as well as in native forest.[8]

Behaviour[]

Adults of this species are on the wing from December to May but have been recorded as on the wing in August and September in the northern parts of the North Island.[4] Adults of this species are attracted to sugar traps as well as to light.[5]

Life cycle and host species[]

I. sulcana larvae have been reared on Microlaena avenacea

The larval host plants of this species are forest grasses and sedges and larvae have been reared on and species within the genus Carex.[4] The larva pupates in the soil.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Ichneutica sulcana (Fereday, 1880)". www.nzor.org.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. ^ Fereday, R. W. (1880). "Description of a (?) new species of the family Leucanidae, and a (?) new species of the genus (?) Chlenias". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. v.12 (1879): 267–270 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ^ a b Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 210 – via Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Hoare, Robert J. B. (2019-12-09). "Noctuinae (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) part 2: Nivetica, Ichneutica". Fauna of New Zealand. 80: 1–455. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.80.
  5. ^ a b c Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. p. 54. OCLC 25449322.
  6. ^ Hudson, G.V. (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & co. p. 13. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.32466.
  7. ^ "Ichneutica sulcana (Fereday, 1880)". nztcs.org.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ a b Hoare, Robert J. B. (2014). A photographic guide to moths & butterflies of New Zealand. Ball, Olivier. Auckland: New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd. p. 130. ISBN 9781869663995. OCLC 891672034.

Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera), by George Vernon Hudson (1898)

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