Tingena

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Tingena
Tingena armigerella.jpg
Tingena armigerella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Oecophoridae
Genus:
Tingena

Walker, 1864[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Cremnogenes Meyrick, 1883

Tingena is a genus of the concealer moth family (Oecophoridae).[2] This genus is endemic to New Zealand.[1]

Taxonomy[]

This genus was described by Francis Walker in 1864.[3] The type species is Tingena bifaciella Walker, by original monotypy.[2] Tingena bifaciella has been synonymised with Tingena armigerella.[2] As at 2021 this genus is regarded as being in need of revision.[4] There are also several species in this genus that are as yet undescribed.[2]

Life cycle and hosts[]

The larvae of species within the genus Tingena are active in New Zealand's mid to late summer and slowly continue to mature throughout the autumn and winter.[5] In late spring or early summer they then pupate.[5]

The larvae of all species within the genus Tingena feed on leaf litter and often larvae of species within this genus coexist in the same area.[5] The larva weave two leaves together with silk forming a cocoon like structure in which they live and from which they feed.[5] These cocoons can be found underneath the layer of loose dry leaf litter but above the layer of moist compacted composing leaf matter.[5] As the larva grows it extends the silken tunnels in which it lives ensuring it can move to new feeding sites.[5] When feeding the larva produces a large amount of frass.[5] It has been hypothesised that the smell of this frass attracts parasitic wasps that utilise Tingena larvae as hosts for their offspring.[5]

Muehlenbeckia australis is a known host of species in the genus Tingena with the larvae feeding on the fallen leaves of this plant.[6]

Species[]

Species in this genus include:[1][7]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c "Tingena Walker, 1864". www.nzor.org.nz. Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  2. ^ a b c d e Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera-annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–264 – via Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research.
  3. ^ Walker, Francis (1864). "Tineites". List of the Specimens of Lepidopterous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum. 29: 563–835 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  4. ^ Robert J. B. Hoare (9 December 2019). Illustrator: Birgit E. Rhode. "Noctuinae (Insecta: Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) part 2: Nivetica, Ichneutica" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 80: 34. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.80. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q94481265. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h J. W. Early; J. S. Dugdale (January 1994). "Fustiserphus (Hymenoptera: Proctotrupidae) parasitises Lepidoptera in leaf litter in New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 21 (3): 249–252. doi:10.1080/03014223.1994.9517992. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q110163411.
  6. ^ Patrick, Brian (October 2016). "Moths and butterflies love Muehlenbeckia australis" (PDF). Open Space. 91: 17 – via Open Spaces magazine.
  7. ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.


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