Tingena letharga
Species of moth, endemic to New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tingena letharga is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Otago. Adults are on the wing in December and January.
| Tingena letharga | |
|---|---|
| |
| Male lectotype | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Oecophoridae |
| Genus: | Tingena |
| Species: | T. letharga |
| Binomial name | |
| Tingena letharga | |
| Synonyms[2] | |
| |
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1883 using specimens collected in Dunedin in January.[3][4] Meyrick originally named the species Oecophora horaea.[3] Meyrick went on to give a fuller description of the species in 1884.[4] In 1915 Meyrick placed this species within the Borkhausenia genus.[5] In 1926 Alfred Philpott was unable to study the genitalia of the male of this species as it was not represented in collections in New Zealand.[6] George Hudson discussed this species under the name Borkhausenia letharga in his 1928 publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[7] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Tingena.[2] The male lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]
Description
.jpg)
Meyrick first described this species as follows:
Fore wings whitish-grey, irrorated with fuscous, three anterior costal spots, two discal dots, a third on fold before first, and posterior transverse angulated line dark fuscous; hind wings grey.[3]
Meyrick described this species more fully as follows:
Male. — 16-16+1⁄2 mm. Head, palpi, antennae, and thorax ochreous-whitish, mixed with fuscous-grey. Abdomen ochreous-whitish. Anterior and middle legs fuscous-grey, central ring of tibiae and apex of all joints ochreous-whitish; posterior legs ochreous-whitish. Forewings moderate, costa moderately arched, apex rounded, hindmargin extremely obliquely rounded; pale whitish-grey, slightly ochreous-tinged, and irrorated with dark fuscous; a cloudy fuscous spot on costa at base, another at 1⁄4, and a third in middle; a small cloudy dark fuscous spot in disc near base; a dark fuscous dot in disc before middle, a second beyond middle, and a third rather obliquely before first on fold; a cloudy fuscous outwards-bent transverse line from f of costa to anal angle, indented inwards beneath costa : cilia pale whitish-ochreous, sprinkled with dark fuscous. Hindwings light grey, apex darker; cilia grey-whitish, with a distinct grey line near base.[4]
Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Otago including at Dunedin and Ida Valley.[1][4][7]
