''Eudonia zophochlaena'' is a

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 Crambidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1923. 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 ...

. It has been hypothesised that this species is a North Island endemic. The adults of this species are on the wing from December until February. The larvae of this species are leaf miners of the leather-leaf fern ''

Pyrrosia eleagnifolia ''Pyrrosia eleagnifolia'', commonly known as the leather-leaf fern, or ota in Māori, is a climbing fern endemic to New Zealand. ''P. eleagnifolia'' has thick, fleshy rounded leaves, and grows both on the ground and as an epiphyte. Name T ...

''.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1923 using a specimen collected by George Hudson in Takapuna, Auckland and named ''Scoparia zophochlaena''. In 1928 George Hudson described and illustrated this species under that name. In 1988 John S. Dugdale discussed this species using the epithet ''zophoclaena'' and placed the species in the genus ''Eudonia''. This placement was accepted in 2010 in the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity which listed the species under the name ''Eudonia zophochlaena''. 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 ...

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

Meyrick described the male adult of this species as follows: Meyrick regarded this species as distinctive as it has large black patches on its forewings.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. Brian Patrick hypothesised that this species is a North Island endemic as it has been observed in Auckland as well as in the Waikato, Hawkes Bay, Manawatū-Whanganui and Wellington regions.

Behaviour

Adults have been recorded on wing from December until February. Adults are active at night and are attracted to light.

Hosts

The larval host of this species is the leather-leaf fern ''

''. The larvae of this species travel from leaf to leaf via the silk tunnels they make, mining the leaves as they move. The larvae pupate within these tunnels surrounded by the silk, mined leaves, and

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13618381 Moths described in 1923 zophochlaena Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic moths of New Zealand