Dasyuris partheniata

Dasyuris partheniata is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is classified as "At Risk, Declining" by the Department of Conservation.

Dasyuris partheniata
Female
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Geometridae
Subfamily:
Larentiinae
Genus:
Dasyuris
Species:
D. partheniata
Binomial name
Dasyuris partheniata

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Achille Guenée in 1868 from a specimen collected by Richard William Fereday in Canterbury.[2] George Vernon Hudson discussed and illustrated the species in 1898[3] and again in 1928.[4] He states that Fereday's specimens were collected at the foot of Mount Hutt.[3] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[5]

Description

The eggs of this species are yellowish-white in appearance, elliptical in shape and have hexagonal depressions on the surface.[4]

Larvae are coloured pale yellow-brown on their dorsal side and a dull ocherous shade on their lateral side.[3] They have 16 legs and are extremely thin.[3]

The pupa is approximately ​1 1⁄4cm long and is initially coloured pale yellow but darkens to golden then dark brown.[6]

Hudson described the adults of the species as follows:

The expansion of the wings is about ​1 1⁄8 inches. The fore-wings are bright orange-yellow ; the base is speckled with black and dull green scales ; there is a rather indistinct band at about one-third; a broad wavy dark brown band a little beyond the middle, with a projection towards the termen, followed by a clear space and another broad irregular dark transverse band; the termen is broadly bordered with dark brown, which is often almost continuous with the last-named transverse band. The hind-wings are bright orange; there is a large speckled area near the base edged with a curved black line, followed by a clear space, and an interrupted dark brown transverse line considerably beyond the middle ; the termen is rather narrowly edged with a dark brown line, wavy towards the base of the wing. The cilia of all the wings are yellow barred with black.[3]

Distribution

D. partheniata is endemic to New Zealand.[1][7] This species has occurred at Waiouru,[4] the Tararua Range[4] including at Mount Holdsworth,[8] Wellington,[3] Mount Arthur,[3] Mount Hutt,[3] Arthur's Pass National Park,[4] Homer,[9] Mount Cook,[4] Dunedin,[10] Lake Wakatipu,[10] and at the Hump Ridge.[10] The species can occur from sea level[4] up to approximately 1500m in altitude.[8]

Behaviour

D. partheniata larvae are nocturnal and when their safety is threatened drop to the centre of the plants they are feeding on.[11] The larvae of this species has been observed, in the present of an Ichneumon wasp, gripping the blade of its foodplant with its prolegs and beating it with its body, causing the blade to move from side to side.[6]

The adults of this species are day flying moths and are on the wing during the months of October to March.[3]

Habitat

The species occurs in open grassy areas. In Wellington the species prefers coastal cliffs and at Mount Hutt specimens have been collected in tussock grass.[3]

Host species

The host plants of this species are in the genus Aciphylla[12] and include Aciphylla subflabellata.[13]

Conservation status

This moth is classified under the New Zealand Threat Classification system as being At Risk and Declining.[14]

References
  1. "Dasyuris partheniata Guenee, 1868". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  2. Guenée, A. (1868). "New species of heterocerous Lepidoptera from Canterbury, New Zealand collected by Mr. R.W. Fereday". The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. v.5=[no.49-60]: 1–6, 38–43, 61–65, 92–95. ISSN 0013-8908 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  3. Hudson, G. V. (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (macro-lepidoptera). London: Newman & Co. p. 70. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.7912.
  4. Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. p. 129.
  5. Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 178. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  6. Chappell, AV (1930). "Life Histories of New Zealand Lepidoptera" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand. 60 (4): 557–562. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  7. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume two. Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. Christchurch, N.Z.: Canterbury University Press. p. 459. ISBN 9781877257933. OCLC 973607714.
  8. Hudson, G. V. (1905). "Notes on the entomology of Mount Holdsworth, Tararua Range". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 37: 334–342 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  9. Howes, G. (1946). "Lepitoptera Collecting at the Homer, with Descriptions of New Species" (PDF). Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 76: 139–147.
  10. Philpott, Alfred (1917). "A list of the Lepidoptera of Otago". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 46: 195–238 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  11. Young, Laura May. "Masting and insect pollination in the dioecious alpine herb Aciphylla" (PDF). www.ir.canterbury.ac.nz. University of Canterbury. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  12. Craig, John L. (September 1990). "Viable populations for conservation". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 20 (3): 310–312. doi:10.1080/03036758.1990.10416827.
  13. H., Patrick; H., Bowie, Michael; B., Fox; B., Patrick (2011). "The moths of Quail Island (Otamahua): A faunal comparison of an island under restoration with other sites on Banks Peninsula". New Zealand Natural Sciences. 36: 57–72. ISSN 0113-7492. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  14. Hoare, R.J.B.; Dugdale, J.S.; Edwards, E.D.; Gibbs, G.W.; Patrick, B.H.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Rolfe, J.R. (2017). Conservation status of New Zealand butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), 2015 (PDF). Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Department of Conservation. p. 7. ISBN 9781988514383.
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