Asaphodes imperfecta

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1905 as Xanthorhoe imperfecta.[3][4] Philpott used specimens he collected in the West Plains suburb of Invercargill.[4] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under that name in 1928.[5] In 1939 Louis Beethoven Prout placed this species in the genus Larentia.[6] This placement was not accepted by New Zealand taxonomists.[7] In 1971 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Asaphodes.[8] In 1988 John S. Dugdale confirmed this placement.[3] The male holotype specimen, collected at West Plains, Invercargill, is held at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.[3]

Illustration of A. imperfecta by George Hudson.

Philpott described A. imperfecta as follows:

29 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen brownish-ochreous. Fore wings ochreous, in male often reddish on costa and about apex. The usual lines are in the male reduced to irregular blackish costal spots ; in the female these costal spots give rise to very faint transverse waved lines. White spots follow most of the dark costal spots, and there is a fairly conspicuous pair at 2⁄3 ; cilia ochreous, barred with blackish. Hind wings ochreous ; cilia greyish-ochreous mixed with darker. Nearest to X. ceyrota, but easily distinguished by the brighter ground-colour and the white costal spots.[4]

Asaphodes imperfecta is endemic to New Zealand.[2][9] The species was regarded as being rare and local to the southern part of the South Island.[5] It is now regarded as being locally extinct in its type locality of Invercargill.[10] George Vernon Hudson mentions that it was also present in Dunedin.[5]

Adult moths had been collected in forest[10] and Hudson stated the species preferred low lying swampy forest habitat.[11] Hudson also stated that adult moths were on the wing in December and January.[11]

The host plants of this species are unknown.[12]

This moth is classified under the New Zealand Threat Classification system as being Nationally Critical.[1] It has been hypothesised that this species is under threat as a likely result of habitat loss, given the drying out of ecosystems as a result of wetland drainage which in turn ensures the land no longer supports the plants the species lives on in its larvae stage.[13]