Stathmopoda skelloni

This species was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1880 and named Boocara skelloni.[2][4] Butler named this species in honour of William Skellon who had sent various specimens he had collected in Blenheim to Butler.[4] In 1889 Edward Meyrick placed this species within the genus Stathmopoda.[5] The type specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2] The common name for this species is the yellow featherfoot.[6]

The name skelloni was previously incorrectly used for S. horticola, a similar looking species which can be distinguished by the more extensive markings on the forewing of that species.[7]

Oecophoridae Stathmopoda skellon

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂♀︎. 12-15mm. Head, palpi, and antennae pale whitish-ochreous. Thorax whitish-ochreous. Abdomen pale whitish-ochreous, greyish-tinged. Legs pale whitish-ochreous, anterior pair infuscated, apex of posterior tibiae grey. Forewings elongate, very narrow broadest near base, long-pointed ; whitish-ochreous, sometimes yellowish-tinged ; markings grey, very variable, sometimes partially margined by an ochreous suffusion ; normally an elongate spot on inner margin at ​¹⁄₃, a second beneath costa in middle, a third in disc at ​²⁄₃, a fourth before apex, and a slender subcostal line from second spot to costa near apex, but these tend to be variously connected and confused ; sometimes a streak along fold, or along anterior part of costa ; rarely a dark ochreous-fuscous suffusion towards base of inner margin : cilia light grey, sometimes ochreous-tinged. Hindwings and cilia light grey.[5]

This species is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in Taranaki, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Lake Wakatipu and Invercargill.[1][5]

S. skelloni is found in a variety of habitats including native forest, coastal dunes, shrubland as well as cultivated gardens and orchards.[7]