Helastia farinata is a moth of the family Geometridae.[2] It was first described by William Warren in 1896. This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the North Island. H. farinata inhabits shady and damp forest ravines.
| Helastia farinata | |
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| Female | |
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| Male | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Geometridae |
| Genus: | Helastia |
| Species: | H. farinata
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| Binomial name | |
| Helastia farinata (Warren, 1896)
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| Synonyms[1] | |
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Taxonomy
editIt was first described by William Warren in 1896 using specimens collected by George Hudson in Wellington and named Xanthorhoe farinata.[3][1] In 1912 Louis Beethoven Prout placed this species in the genus Larentia and affirmed this placement again in 1939.[4][5] Edward Meyrick returned this species to the genus Xanthorhoe in 1917.[6] George Hudson followed this placement when he discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[7] In 1971 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Helastia and this placement was confirmed by Robin C. Craw when he revised the genus in 1987.[8][1] Dugdale agreed with this placement in his 1988 publication Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa.[9] The male lectotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[9]
Description
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Warren described this species as follows:
Forewings: grey, with very fine dark irroration ; the lines blackish; first near base, angled in cell and preceded by a finer line ; second line beyond one-third, angled on the subcostal, then oblique inwards and waved to inner margin before middle, followed by a similar finer line, the two marked with black on the median ; outer line at two-thirds, angled on vein 6, bidentate below median, then incurved and wavy, preceded by a similar finer line ; submarginal line pale grey, denticulate, with a darker grey shade on both sides ; fringe grey, slightly mottled with dark, with no dark basal line ; in the pale spaces before and beyond the central fascia, and in that fascia itself, traces can be seen of darker transverse lines; the space between the double lines forming the edges of the central fascia is filled up with blackish from the costa to the angulation.
Hindwings : paler grey, with traces of a sinuate still paler submarginal fascia with a dark line through it.
Underside: grey, with the outer line blackish. Head, thorax, and abdomen all grey ; forelegs blackish, with white joints.
Expanse of wings : 26 mm.[3]
Distribution
editThis species is endemic to New Zealand.[10] H. farinata is found in the North Island only in the Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Wellington regions.[1] Although George Hudson records in 1939 that this species was observed in Awapiri, Marlborough, Craw pointes out that in Te Papa there is a faded specimen of Dichromodes sphaeriata which may have led Hudson to this conclusion.[11][1]
Habitat
editThe preferred habitat of H. farinata is shady and damp forest ravines.[1]
Behaviour
editAdults of this species have been observed to be on the wing in January, February and September.[12] Adults are nocturnal and are attracted to light.[1]
References
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- ^ a b c d e f g R. C. Craw (April 1987). "Revision of the genus Helastia sensu stricto with description of a new genus (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae)". New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 14 (2): 269–293. doi:10.1080/03014223.1987.10422997. ISSN 0301-4223. Wikidata Q54670161.
- ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
- ^ a b William Warren (1896). "New species of Drepanulidae, Thyrididae, Uraniidae, Epilemidae, and Geometridae in the Tring Museum". Novitates Zoologicae. 3: 388. doi:10.5962/BHL.PART.5427. ISSN 0950-7655. Wikidata Q56016467.
- ^ Louis Beethoven Prout (30 August 1911). "Notes on the nomenclature of the New Zealand Geometridae, with descriptions of a new species". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 44: 52. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q110727587.
- ^ Prout, Louis Beethoven (1939). "The Indoaustralian Geometrida". The Macrolepidoptera of the world : a systematic account of all the known Macrolepidoptera. Vol. 12. Stuttgart: Fritz Lehmann Verlag. p. 265.
- ^ Edward Meyrick (December 1917). "Revision of New Zealand Notodontina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 49: 259. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q110727829.
- ^ George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 113, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
- ^ Dugdale, J. S. (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae". Pacific Insects Monographs. 27: 55–172. ISSN 0078-7515. Wikidata Q64006453.
- ^ a b John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 181. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
- ^ "Helastia farinata (Warren, 1896)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
- ^ George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 409, OCLC 9742724, Wikidata Q109420935
- ^ "Helastia farinata". iNaturalist. Retrieved 2023-04-30.