Bityla defigurata
Bityla defigurata | |
---|---|
File:Bityla defigurata female.jpg | |
Female | |
File:Bityla defigurata male.jpg | |
Male | |
Scientific classification Edit this classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Noctuidae |
Genus: | Bityla |
Species: | B. defigurata
|
Binomial name | |
Bityla defigurata | |
Synonyms[2] | |
|
Bityla defigurata is a moth of the family Noctuidae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1865 using specimens collected by T. R. Oxley in Nelson and originally named Xylina defigurata.[3] Edward Meyrick placed this species in the genus Bityla and synonymised Bityla thoracica with this species.[4] The female holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]
Description
Walker described this species as follows:
Female. Cinereous-brown. Head and fore tegulae of the thorax dark brown. Palpi dull ochraceous, fringed beneath, obliquely ascending, rising a little higher than the vertex ; second joint mostly black on the outer side ; third elongate-conical, about one-third of the length of the second. Abdomen brownish-cinereous, extending rather beyond, the hind wings; apical tuft ochraceous. Wings shining, tinged with aeneous. Fore wings with some indistinct brown lines composed of lunules ; orbicular and reniform marks indistinctly brown-bordered. Hind wings a little more cinereous than the fore wings. Length of the body 10 lines ; of the wings 22 lines.[3]
Distribution
It is endemic to New Zealand and found in both the North and South Islands.[1][5]
Behaviour
The adults of this species are on the wing from January to March and is attracted to light.[5]
Host species
The larvae of this species have been reared on Muehlenbeckia australis and Muehlenbeckia complexa.[6]
References
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Bityla defigurata (Walker, 1865)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 No label or title -- debug: Q45083134, p. 195, Wikidata Q45083134
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 No label or title -- debug: Q113265208, Wikidata Q113265208
- ↑ No label or title -- debug: Q104048034, p. 31, Wikidata Q104048034
- ↑ Jump up to: 5.0 5.1 No label or title -- debug: Q19073637, p. 29, Wikidata Q19073637
- ↑ "PlantSynz - Invertebrate herbivore biodiversity assessment tool: Database". plant-synz.landcareresearch.co.nz. Retrieved 15 July 2018.