Pseudocoremia amaculata

Pseudocoremia amaculata is a species of moth in the family Geometridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed at St Arnaud. As at 2003 the female of this species is unknown. This species has been shown to be parasitised by species of wasps in the genera Aleiodes, Casinaria and Glyptapanteles.

Pseudocoremia amaculata
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Geometridae
Genus: Pseudocoremia
Species:
P. amaculata
Binomial name
Pseudocoremia amaculata
Stephens & Gibbs, 2003[1]

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Andréa Stephens and George Gibbs in 2003.[3] J. S. Dugdale mentioned the species in his 1988 publication as one of two undescribed species in the genus Pseudocoremia.[4] The male holotype specimen collected by Dugdale at St Arnaud Village in 1983 is held at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.[3]

Description

The forewing length of the male of this species is between 15 and 16 mm.[3] Stephens and Gibbs described the species as follows:

Forewings: relatively uniform medium brown across the entire surface, basal line and the median lines very faint, terminal line very faint zig-zag, below the apex across the terminal line is a darker brown poorly defined smear. Hindwings: completely yellow with no evidence of peppering. Antennae: bipectinate, with the longest pectinations extending to around 1875μm with pectinations becoming shorter towards the tip of the antennae, distal 22% of antennae without pectinations.[3]

As at 2003 the female of this species is unknown.[3]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[1][5] It has been collected only at St Arnaud.[3] Stephens and Gibbs mentioned a specimen collected at the Hapuka Scenic Reserve  near  Kaikōura  that may be P. amaculata.[3] However, as a result of that specimen being more strongly marked there is doubt about this designation.[3]

Behaviour

Species in the genus Pseudocoremia are nocturnal and are attracted to light.[6]

Predators

This species has been studied and found to have been parasitised by species of wasps in the genera Aleiodes, Casinaria and Glyptapanteles.[7]

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pseudocoremia amaculata.
  1. "Pseudocoremia amaculata Stephens & Gibbs, 2003". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  2. 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.
  3. Andréa E. A. Stephens; George W. Gibbs (December 2003). "Two new species of Pseudocoremia and reinstatement of P. pergrataas species (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Ennominae)". New Zealand Entomologist. 26 (1): 61–64. doi:10.1080/00779962.2003.9722109. ISSN 0077-9962. Wikidata Q54601619.
  4. 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: 169. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  5. "Pseudocoremia amaculata Stephens & Gibbs, 2003". biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz. 5 November 2015. Retrieved 2023-04-23.
  6. Robert J. B. Hoare (2014). A Photographic Guide to Moths & Butterflies of New Zealand. Illustrator: Olivier Jean-Philippe Ball. p. 112. ISBN 978-1-86966-399-5. Wikidata Q59396160.
  7. Frost, Carol M.; Peralta, Guadalupe; Rand, Tatyana A.; Didham, Raphael K.; Varsani, Arvind; Tylianakis, Jason M. (2016-08-31). "Apparent competition drives community-wide parasitism rates and changes in host abundance across ecosystem boundaries". Nature Communications. 7 (1): 12644. doi:10.1038/ncomms12644. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 5013663. PMID 27577948.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.