''Ichneutica acontistis'' is a moth of 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 to New Zealand and is found only in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

, mainly on the eastern side although not in the Nelson district. This species is similar in appearance to '' I. paraxysta,'' '' I. stulta'' and '' I. toroneura''. ''I. acontistis'' is unlikely to be confused with ''I. paraxysta'' as the later is only found in the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

. ''I. acontistis'' can be distinguished from ''I. stulta'' as the latter species has a strongly curved forewing edge where as ''I. acontistis is straight. ''I. acontistis'' can be distinguished from ''I. toroneura'' as the former has a dark stroke of colour starting from the base of the forewing that ''I. toroneura'' lacks. ''I. acontistis'' inhabits

tussock grasslands Tussock grassland is a form of open grassland that is dominated by tussock grasses (also called bunchgrasses). It is common in some temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregions of the Southern Hemisphere. Tussock grasslands are usually ...

and the larvae of this species feed on species of grass found in the genera ''

Poa ''Poa'' is a genus of about 570 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass (mainly in Europe and Asia), bluegrass (mainly in North America), tussock (some New Zealand species), a ...

'', '' Elymus'' and ''

Rytidosperma ''Rytidosperma'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Most of the species occur in Australasia, with a few in insular Southeast Asia, southern South America (Chile + Argentina), and certain islands of the Pacific (Hawaii + Easter Island).

.'' It pupates under rocks and adults are on the wing from September to January. ''I. acontistis'' are attracted to light.

Taxonomy

This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1887 from a male specimen collected at Castle Hill by

John Davies Enys John Davies Enys (11 October 1837 – 7 November 1912) was a New Zealand runholder and naturalist. He was born in Penryn, Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recog ...

and named ''Leucania acontistis''. The holotype specimen is held at the Canterbury Museum. In 1988, in his catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera, J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the ''Tmetolophota'' genus. In 2019

Robert Hoare The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

undertook a major review of New Zealand Noctuidae. During this review the genus ''Ichneutica'' was greatly expanded and the genus ''Tmetolophota'' was subsumed into that genus as a synonym. As a result of this review, this species is now known as ''Ichneutica acontistis.''

Description

The larvae of this species have yet to be described. Meyrick described the adult of the species as follows: The wingspan of the adult male of this species is between 31 and 39.5 mm and for the female is between 32 and 38.5 mm. Although ''I. acontistis'' is similar in appearance to '' I. paraxysta'' confusion is unlikely to happen as ''I. acontistis'' is found only in the South Island and ''I. paraxysta'' is found only in the North Island. Other species that are also similar in appearance to this species are '' I. stulta'' and '' I. toroneura''. ''I. acontistis'' can be distinguished from ''I. stulta'' as ''I. acontistis'' has an almost straight leading edge of the forewing where as in specimens of ''I. stulta'' this forewing edge is strongly curved. ''I. acontistis'' also lacks the discal spot found on the underside of the hindwing which is present in specimens of ''I. stulta''. ''I. acontistis'' can be distinguished from ''I. toroneura'' as ''I. acontistis'' have the dark stroke of colour starting from the base of the forewing that ''I. toroneura'' lacks.

Distribution

''Ichneutica acontistis'' is endemic to New Zealand. This species only found in the South Island and tends to be present on the eastern side of that island. However it has yet to be collected and may be absent from the Nelson district.

Habitat

''Ichneutica acontistis'' inhabits

Behaviour

Adults are on the wing from September to January. They are attracted to light. This species doesn't appear to have suffered the sharp decreased in population occurring to species that inhabited similar habitat to species during the early 1960s to the late 1980s.

Life cycle and host species

Larvae feed on tussock grassland species within the genera ''

'', '' Elymus'' and ''

.'' Adult moths have been reared from pupae that were found under rocks.

References

{{Taxonbar , from=Q104203018 Hadeninae Moths described in 1887 Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand