Asaphodes aegrota

Asaphodes aegrota is a species of moth in the family Geometridae.[4] It was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1879 as Selidosema aegrota. It is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the North, South and Stewart Islands. This species inhabits open spaces in lowland native forest. The larvae of A. aegrota feed on native herbs and have also been observed feeding of the introduced lawn daisy. The adults are variable in appearance with the markings on both sides of its wings varying in intensity. Some populations also have narrow winged females. Adults are on the wing from November until March.

Asaphodes aegrota
Female
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Asaphodes
Species:
A. aegrota
Binomial name
Asaphodes aegrota
(Butler, 1879)[1]
Synonyms[2][3]
  • Selidosema aegrota Butler, 1879
  • Larentia aegrota (Butler, 1879)
  • Xanthorhoe aegrota (Butler, 1879)

Taxonomy
Living male A. aegrota.

This species was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1879 using specimens collected at Wairarapa by F. W. Hutton and named Selidosema aegrota.[5] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under the name Xanthorhoe aegrota in 1898 and again in 1928.[6][3] In 1939 Louis Beethoven Prout placed this species in the genus Larentia.[7] This placement was not accepted by New Zealand taxonomists.[8] In 1971 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Asaphodes.[9] In 1988 Dugdale confirmed this placement in his catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera.[2] The male holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description
Illustration of male A. aegrota by George Hudson.

Butler originally described this species as follows:

Whity-brown, wings with a marginal series of small blackish spots in pairs; fringe white, spotted with blackish and intersected by a dark grey line ; basal two-thirds of the primaries crossed by about seven parallel dusky lines commencing upon the costal margin in black dots ; discocellulars black ; under surface of primaries greyish-brown with pale grey borders, the costal border crossed by four or five white-edged blackish dashes ; marginal spots as above ; secondaries white, crossed by about eight strongly arched parallel brown lines which become very indistinct upon the costal area ; disc from the radial to the abdominal margin clouded with brown ; marginal spots as above ; body white.[5]

This species is variable in appearance and the intensity of the markings on both the lower and upper sides of its wings can vary considerably.[3] It also has populations that have narrow winged females such as in the Wairau Valley, Marlborough.[9]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and can be found on the North, South and Stewart Islands.[1][3]

Habitat

This species inhabits open spaces in lowland native forest.[3] Hudson observed it amongst Discaria toumatou.[3]

Behaviour

The adults of this species are on the wing from November until March.[3]

Host species
Bellis perennis, an introduced host plant for larvae of A. aegrota.

Larvae of this species feed on herbs.[10] They have also been found feeding on introduced lawn daisies.[11][12]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Asaphodes aegrota.
Wikispecies has information related to Asaphodes aegrota.
  1. "Asaphodes aegrota (Butler, 1879)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  2. John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 14: 172. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington, p. 120, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  5. Arthur Gardiner Butler (1879). "On a small collection of Heterocerous Lepidoptera, from New Zealand". Cistula entomologica. 2: 499. Wikidata Q104215588.
  6. George Vernon Hudson (1898), New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera), Illustrator: George Hudson, London, p. 64, doi:10.5962/BHL.TITLE.7912, OCLC 980865393, Wikidata Q19073637{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. Prout, L. B. (1939). "Geometridae: Fauna Indo-Australica". The Macrolepidoptera of the World. 12: 264 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  8. 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.
  9. J. S. Dugdale (10 November 1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae" (PDF). Pacific Insects Monographs. 27: 55–172. ISSN 0078-7515. Wikidata Q64006453.
  10. K. J. M. Dickinson; A. F. Mark; B. I. P. Barratt; B. H. Patrick (March 1998). "Rapid ecological survey, inventory and implementation: a case study from Waikaia Ecological Region, New Zealand". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 28 (1): 83–156. doi:10.1080/03014223.1998.9517556. ISSN 0303-6758. Wikidata Q54578259.
  11. Brian H. Patrick (April 2000). Conservation status of two rare New Zealand geometrid moths (PDF). pp. 1–21. ISBN 0-478-21946-6. ISSN 1173-2946. Wikidata Q109608608. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  12. Brian Patrick (1 July 2014). "Ecology and conservation of the rare moth Asaphodes frivola Meyrick". The Wētā. 47: 17–38. ISSN 0111-7696. Wikidata Q105344866.
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