''Gadira petraula'' is a species of

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. This species 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 is only found in mid Canterbury. ''G. petraula'' inhabits coastal, montane and low alpine rock sites. The larvae live in rock crevices in a silk shelter from which they emerge to feed. Their host plants are moss or lichens. The adult female is flightless and the male is on the wing in March. This species is classified as "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment ...

. The

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

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Christchurch earthquakes destroyed much of this species preferred habitat. Rock climbers cleaning rocks of the larval host plants are also a threat to the survival of this species.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1882 using specimens he collected on the Lyttleton Hills and named ''Scenoploca petraula''. In 1883 Meyrick gave a much more detailed description of the species. George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species under that same name in his 1928 publication ''The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand''. In 1973

David Edward Gaskin David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

placed this species within the genus ''Gadira''. The lectotype specimen 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 larvae of this species as follows: Hudson described the adult moths of the species as follows: The adults of this species are very similar to that of ''

Gadira leucophthalma ''Gadira leucophthalma'', the beaked moss moth, is a moth in the family Crambidae. It is Endemism, endemic to New Zealand. It is found in the south eastern side of the South Island down to Banks Peninsula. ''G. leucophthalma'' inhabits the fored ...

'' however ''G. petraula'' is slightly smaller and their forewing dorsum has a grey and black pattern in contrast to the more whitish grey in ''G. leucophthalma.'' Another distinguishing feature is that the female of ''G. petraula'' is short winged.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. This species is only known from

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions of C ...

. The record of this species from Stephens Island is as a result of a misidentification and the record from Australia likely results from Meyrick gifting one of his New Zealand specimens to an Australian collector.

Biology and behaviour

The adult female of this species is flightless. The males have been recorded on the wing in March. Adults have also been found mid October to up to December depending on the altitude of the habitat in which the moths live. It has been hypothesised that there are likely a succession of generations of the moth within a calendar year.

Host species and habitat

The larvae of ''G. petraula'' feed on moss or lichens growing on volcanic rocks. They live in crevices, creating a shelter of silk from which they emerge to feed. This species preferred habitat is coastal, montane, and low alpine rocky sites.

Conservation status

This species has been classified as having the "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" conservation status under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

. Both the habitat and type locality of this species is at risk due to urbanisation. The 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquakes destroyed or damaged much of this species habitat. Another threat is the cleaning of rock faces by rock climbers.

References

External links

Image of larva webbing
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13638738 Crambinae Moths described in 1882 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand