Mallobathra cataclysma
Holotype
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Psychidae
Genus: Mallobathra
Species:
M. cataclysma
Binomial name
Mallobathra cataclysma
Clarke, 1934[1]

Mallobathra cataclysma is a moth of the family Psychidae.[1][2] It was described by Charles Edwin Clarke in 1934. This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Otago. Adults are on the wing in January and have been collected just before sunrise at the bushline in native Nothofagus forest.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Charles Edwin Clarke in 1934 using one specimen collected at the bushline at Harris Saddle, upper Routeburn River, in January.[3][2] George Hudson discussed this species in his 1939 book A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[4] Hudson was of the opinion that the female holotype for M. cataclysma agreed with the female specimens in his collection of M. lapidosa and so synonymised that name.[4] However J. S. Dugdale recognised M. cataclysma as a separate species in his 1988 annotated catalogue of New Zealand lepidopteria.[2] The female holotype is held the Auckland War Memorial Museum.[2][5]

Description

Clarke described this species as follows:

♂ 9 mm. Head and palpi grey ochreous. Thorax grey fuscous, abdomen fuscous. Antennae grey fuscous, ciliations 2. Forewings elongate, costa arched, apex acutely rounded, termen oblique; very pale ochreous with fuscous markings and irroration, the most distinct at about ½ on costa, others at ⅔ broken and irrorated, distinct on dorsum; others across from near edge of termen. Cilia pale. Hindwings grey; cilia pale grey.[3]

This species differs from M. metrosema as it is paler in colour as well as being larger in size. M. cataclysma differs from M. scoriota as it is smaller, is again paler, has a different shape to the markings on its forewings and differs in the length of antennal ciliations.[3]

Distribution

Harris Saddle, type locality of this species

M. cataclysma is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It has been observed in Otago.[2]

Behaviour

An adult of this species has been collected walking on the bark of species in the genus Nothofagus.[3] Adults of this species have been collected just before the sun rises and are on the wing in January.[6]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mallobathra cataclysma.
  1. 1 2 3 Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 463. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 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: 68. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Charles E. Clarke (May 1934). "Notes and Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 64: 15. ISSN 1176-6166. Wikidata Q110090429.
  4. 1 2 George Vernon Hudson (1939), A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 468, OCLC 9742724, Wikidata Q109420935 Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ↑ Arthur William Baden Powell (1941). "Biological Primary Types in the Auckland Museum". Records of the Auckland Institute and Museum. 2: 239–259. ISSN 0067-0464. JSTOR 42905985. Wikidata Q58676616.
  6. ↑ Charles E. Clarke (February 1933). "The Lepidoptera of the Te Anau-Manapouri Lakes Districts". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 63 (2): 115. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q62934927.
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