''Austramathes purpurea'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

in the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

and can be found throughout the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Islands but has yet to be recorded at

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. It inhabits native forest. This species might possibly be confused with ''A. pessota'', however this latter species does not have the purple hue to the forewings. The larvae of ''A. purpurea'' feed primarily on māhoe but have been recorded as feeding on, and have been reared on, narrow-leaved māhoe. The larvae pupate in a silken cocoon on moss covered ground. Adults can be found on the wing during the months of March to January but mainly occur during New Zealand's late autumn, winter, and spring. Light trapping may not be the most efficient technique for collecting this species.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by

Arthur Gardiner Butler Arthur Gardiner Butler F.L.S., F.Z.S. (27 June 1844 – 28 May 1925) was an English entomologist, arachnologist and ornithologist. He worked at the British Museum on the taxonomy of birds, insects, and spiders. Biography Arthur Gardiner Butl ...

in 1879 and named ''Graphiphora purpurea''. In 1887

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854, in Ramsbury – 31 March 1938, at Thornhanger, Marlborough) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern micr ...

, thinking he was describing a new species, again named this moth ''Xanthia ceramodes''. Having realised his error, in 1888 Meyrick synonymised this name but placed the species within the ''Xanthia'' genus. In 1906

George Hampson Sir George Francis Hampson, 10th Baronet (14 January 1860 – 15 October 1936) was an English entomologist. Hampson studied at Charterhouse School and Exeter College, Oxford. He travelled to India to become a tea-planter in the Nilgiri Hills o ...

described the new genus ''Austramathes'' and placed this species within it so it is now known as ''Austramathes purpurea''. In 2017 Robert Hoare undertook revision of the New Zealand Noctuinae and confirmed this placement. The male

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

specimen was collected by F. W. Hutton in

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

and is held at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

Description

The larvae of this species are green with orange, black, yellow and pink markings.

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...

described it as follows: Butler originally described this species as follows: Hudson also described the species in his 1898 book ''New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera)'' as: The wingspan of the adult male ''A. purpurea'' is between 29 and 37mm where as the wingspan of the female is between 29 and 42mm. This species might possibly be confused with ''A. pessota'', however this latter species does not have the purple hue to the forewings.

Distribution

''A. purpurea'' is endemic to New Zealand, and found in both the North and the South Islands but has yet to be recorded at Stewart Island.

Habitat

This species prefers native forest as its habitat.

Behaviour

The larvae of this species pupate in a silken cocoon on moss covered ground or alternatively within gaps in bark. Adults can be found on the wing during the months of March to January but mainly occur during New Zealand's late autumn, winter and spring.

Host species

The larvae of ''A. purpurea'' feed primarily on māhoe but have been recorded as feeding on, and have also been reared on, narrow-leaved māhoe.

Collection method

Although the adults of this species are nocturnal and are attracted to light, Robert Hoare has hypothesised that light trapping may not be the most efficient technique for collecting this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13431495 Cuculliinae Moths described in 1879 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Arthur Gardiner Butler Endemic moths of New Zealand