Orocrambus tuhualis

Orocrambus tuhualis
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Crambidae
Subfamily: Crambinae
Tribe: Crambini
Genus: Orocrambus
Species:
O. tuhualis
Binomial name
Orocrambus tuhualis
Synonyms
  • Crambus tuhualis Felder and Rogenhofer, 1875
  • Crambus thrincodes Meyrick, 1910
  • Crambus thrincodes Meyrick, 1911

Orocrambus tuhualis is a moth in the family Crambidae.[1] It was first described by Cajetan Felder and Alois Friedrich Rogenhofer in 1875. It is endemic to New Zealand, where it has been recorded in the South Island and around Wellington in the North Island. This species inhabits swampy areas and is associated with patches of the fern Pteridium aquilinum. It also frequents clearings in beech forest. Adults have been recorded on the wing in November and December. It has been hypothesised that the larval host plant for this moth are species in the genus Juncus.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Cajetan Felder and Alois Friedrich Rogenhofer in 1875 and originally named Crambus tuhualis.[2] In 1910 Edward Meyrick, thinking he was describing a new species, named this moth Crambus thrincodes.[3] In 1911 Meyrick mistakenly described Crambus thrincodes again as a new species.[4] This name was synonymised with Crambus tuhualis by Alfred Philpott in 1926.[5] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under the name Crambus tuhualis in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[6] In 1962 Stanislaw Bleszynski and Reginald J. Collins confirmed this synonymisation.[7] In 1975 David Gaskin revised the genus Orocrambus and placed this species within it.[8] The female holotype specimen, collected in Nelson by T. R. Oxley, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[9]

Description

Illustration of male by Hudson.

The wingspan of the adults of this species is 23–28 mm.[8]

Hudson described this moth as follows:

The expansion of the wings is slightly over 1 inch. The fore-wings have a very broad, irregular, white costal band, the dorsal area being pale brownish-ochreous; there is a narrow, chocolate-brown streak on the costal edge becoming broader towards the apex and interrupted by white bars at 1⁄3 and 3⁄4; several irregular dark brown marks at about 1⁄3; a sharp, crescent- shaped brown mark in the disc at 2⁄3 enclosing a white spot with a faint brown centre; the second line is white and very jagged; the veins:are more or less marked in dark brown. The hind- wings are pale ochreous, slightly darker towards the apex.[6]

Hudson pointed out that this species is variable in the extent of the white costal area and the breadth of the white bars that break up the costal brown edging of the forewings.[6] This can can result in the brown edging appearing as three elongated spots.[6]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[10] It has been observed around Wellington in the North Island and throughout the South Island.[8]

Habitat and hosts

This species inhabitat swampy areas.[8] It is associated with patches of the fern Pteridium aquilinum and also frequents clearings in beech forest.[6] It has been hypothesised that the larval host plant for this moth is a species in the genus Juncus.[8]

Behaviour

O. tuhualis showing resting posture.

Adults have been recorded on the wing from November to December.[8] Hudson points out that adults at rest the hold their abdomens and wings upwards at an angle of about 15 degrees from the object on which the insect is standing.[6]

References

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  1. ↑ 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. LCCN 2011379669. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. ↑ von Felder, Baron Cajetan; Felder, Rudolf; Rogenhofer, Alois Friedrich (1875). "Lepidoptera". Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara um die Erde. (Zoologischer Theil.). pt.9:Bd.2:Abt.2 Atlas: pl. CXXXVII, Fig 18 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. ↑ E. Meyrick (1 June 1910). "Notes on New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 42: 64–65. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63123541. BHL page 3332886
  4. ↑ E. Meyrick (1 July 1911). "Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 43: 61. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q58200989. BHL page 9782100
  5. ↑ A. Philpott (1926). "New Zealand Lepidoptera: Notes and Descriptions". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 56: 391. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63100760.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 168, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286 BHL page 61899779 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  7. ↑ S Błeszyński; Reginald J. Collins (1962). "A Short Catalogue of the World Species of the Family Crambidae (Lepidoptera)". Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia. 7 (1–2): 285. ISSN 0065-1710. Wikidata Q116733304.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gaskin, D. E. (1975). "Revision of the New Zealand Crambini (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae: Crambinae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 2 (3): 265–363. doi:10.1080/03014223.1975.9517878.
  9. ↑ Dugdale , J. S. (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 149–150. doi:10.7931/j2/fnz.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  10. ↑ "Orocrambus tuhualis (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
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