Atomotricha sordida

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Atomotricha sordida
Illustration of male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Genus: Atomotricha
Species:
A. sordida
Binomial name
Atomotricha sordida
(Butler, 1877)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Oecophora sordida Butler, 1877
  • Brachysara sordida (Butler, 1877)

Atomotricha sordida is a moth in the family Oecophoridae first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877.[3][2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the South Island in the Canterbury and Otago regions. The adult female of the species is brachypterous.

Taxonomy[edit]

A. sordida was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877 using specimens collected by Dr. Hector and J. D. Enys in either Dunedin, Christchurch or Castle Hill.[4][2] Butler originally named the species Oecophora sordida.[4] In 1884 Edward Meyrick placed this species in the genus Brachysara.[5] In 1914 Meyrick again reevaluated the placement of this species and placed it in the genus Atomotricha.[6] Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.[7] The male holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description[edit]

Butler described this species as follows:

Primaries pale shining brown ; a small arched marking just beyond the end of the cell, the outer border, and fringe grey ; secondaries silvery white ; body testaceous: wings below silvery white, primaries slightly brownish ; pectus (apparently) silvery white ; legs and venter pale testaceous. Expanse of wings 10 lines.[4]

Meyrick described the species as follows:

Male. — 20-21 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax light, fuscous, somewhat mixed with darker. Antennae light fuscous. Abdomen ochreous-whitish. Legs ochreous-whitish, anterior pair obscurely suffused with fuscous. Fore-wings elongate, narrow, costa slightly arched, distinctly sinuate in middle, apex round-pointed, hindmargin extremely oblique, slightly rounded ; light fuscous, sometimes slightly mixed with darker ; a straight narrow tolerably well-defined blackish longitudinal streak somewhat above middle from base nearly to apex, tending to be very slightly interrupted at 13 and 23 , rather suffused beneath towards apex and near base, sometimes entirely obsolete ; when obsolete, there are sometimes visible an arched fuscous mark before 13 and another just beyond middle, which are usually obscured by the streak ; a slender very obscure fuscous transverse line from 34 of costa to 34 of inner margin, twice angulated above middle, usually terminating the longitudinal streak, often obsolete : cilia light fuscous, with a cloudy blackish interrupted basal line. Hindwings whitish, slightly suffused with ochreous-grey towards costa ; cilia whitish, with faint cloudy grey basal and apical lines.[5]

Hudson stated that this species is similar in appearance to A. oeconoma and that the female of A. sordida resembles the female of A. oeconoma. However the brachypterous forewings of A. sordida have a blackish longitudinal streak and the hind wings are rudimentary.[7]

Distribution[edit]

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[1] This species has been observed in the South Island, including in Castle Hill, Rakaia, Christchurch and Dunedin.[4][5]



References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Atomotricha sordida (Butler, 1877)". www.nzor.org.nz. Retrieved 2022-05-01.
  2. ^ a b c d John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 90. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
  3. ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
  4. ^ a b c d Arthur G. Butler (1877). "On two Collections of Heterocerous Lepidoptera from New Zealand, with descriptions of new Genera and Species". Journal of Zoology. 1877: 379–407. ISSN 1469-7998. Wikidata Q109479517.
  5. ^ a b c Edward Meyrick (1884). "Descriptions of New Zealand Microlepidoptera. III. Oecophoridae". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 16: 11. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63976486.
  6. ^ Edward Meyrick (1914). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 46: 110. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q98606535.
  7. ^ a b George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 288, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286