''Kiwaia pumila'' 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 Gelechiidae. 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 is classified as Nationally Vulnerable 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 ...

Taxonomy

This species was described by

Alfred Philpott Alfred Philpott (15 December 1870 – 24 July 1930) was a New Zealand museum curator, entomologist and writer. He was born in Tysoe, Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The ...

in 1928 and named ''Gelechia pumila.'' Philpott used specimens collected by Stuart Lindsay in

Yaldhurst Yaldhurst is a semi-rural suburb on the western outskirts of Christchurch city. Frederick William Delamain (1835–1910), a settler and horse breeder, named a horse Yaldhurst after some stables in England. The area was named after the horse. The ...

in May.

George Vernon Hudson George Vernon Hudson FRSNZ (20 April 1867 – 5 April 1946) was a British-born New Zealand entomologist credited with proposing the modern daylight saving time. He was awarded the Hector Memorial Medal in 1923. Biography Born in London, Brit ...

discussed and illustrated the species in 1939. In 1987 Klaus Siegfried Oskar Sattler placed this species in the genus ''

Kiwaia ''Kiwaia'' is a genus of moths in the family Gelechiidae. Two subgenera are currently recognised, (i) the nominotypical subgenus with 25 species from New Zealand, and (ii) subgenus ''Empista'' with 4 species from the Palaearctic Region. Species ...

''. The

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...

specimen is held at the Canterbury Museum.

Description

Philpott described the species as follows:

Distribution

''K. pumila'' is endemic to New Zealand. Its range covers

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

Mackenzie country The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane river basin, basin located in the Mackenzie District, Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of Ne ...

and mid

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. As well as the type locality of Yaldhurst, specimens have been collected at Clarence Bridge and

Lake Pukaki Lake Pukaki is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. The others are Lakes Tekapo and Ohau. All three lakes were formed when the te ...

, as well as on McLeans Island in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

Life cycle and habitat

Adult moths are on the wing in March. The species is associated with damp patches in grass habitat.

Host plants

The host plant for this species is unknown.

Conservation status

This species has the "Nationally Vulnerable" 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 ...

References

Kiwaia Moths described in 1928 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Gnorimoschemini-stub