Heterocrossa sarcanthes

Heterocrossa sarcanthes is a moth of the Carposinidae family first described by Edward Meyrick in 1918.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Wellington. The adults of this species is similar in appearance to H. adreptella but can be distinguished from that species as H. sarcanthes has a pale pinkish-ochreous colour to the basal half of the hindwings.

Heterocrossa sarcanthes
Male holotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Carposinidae
Genus: Heterocrossa
Species:
H. sarcanthes
Binomial name
Heterocrossa sarcanthes
(Meyrick, 1918)
Synonyms
  • Carposina sarcanthes Meyrick, 1918

Taxonomy

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This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1918 using a specimen collected by George Hudson in Wellington and named Carposina sarcanthes.[2] Hudson discussed this species in his book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[3] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Heterocrossa.[4] The male holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[4]

Description

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The wingspan is about 15 mm. The head is white, with a few grey specks and the thorax is grey with a curved white median bar. The abdomen is pale pinkish-ochreous. The forewings are elongate, rather narrow, posteriorly somewhat dilated, the costa gently arched, the apex obtuse and the termen straight. They are pale grey, irregularly mixed with white and somewhat sprinkled with dark fuscous. There is a semi-oval blackish blotch on base of the costa and seven dots of blackish irroration on the costa between this and the apex. There are also two small round grey spots edged beneath with blackish and circled with white beneath the costa towards the middle. The hindwings are whitish-grey, but the basal half is suffused with pale pinkish-ochreous.[2]

This species is similar in appearance to H. adreptella but can be distinguished from that species as H. sarcanthes has a pale pinkish-ochreous colour to the basal half of the hindwings.[3]

Distribution

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This species is endemic to New Zealand.[5] It has been collected in Wellington.[3]

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. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. ^ a b Edward Meyrick (15 July 1918). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 50: 133. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q113331787.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ a b c George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 216, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
  4. ^ 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: 131. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  5. ^ "Heterocrossa sarcanthes (Meyrick, 1918)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-05-05.