''Meterana pascoei'' 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

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 ...

, endemic to

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 ...

. The name and description were published as ''Morrisonia pascoei'' by William George Howes in 1912. It is about 38 mm long, with reddish-brown forewings marked with faint lines and a pair of kidney-shaped marks, and a reddish-brown abdomen with a pronounced tuft at the end. Howes named the species in honour of Merlin O. Pasco of Queenstown, who had sent him 20 specimens caught at a

treacle Treacle () is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.Oxford Dictionary The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and a darker variety known as black treacle, similar to molasses. Black treacle has a ...

-baited moth trap – Howes had previously collected just two specimens, in 1910.

Nomenclature

In 1928, in his book ''The Butterflies and moths of New Zealand,''

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 this species, placing it within the genus ''Melanchra'' and edited the epithet to "pascoi". John S. Dugdale also used the epithet "pascoi" and proposed several new synonyms for this species in his 1988 publication ''Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family group taxa.'' Most institutions and databases such as the New Zealand Arthropod Collection, the New Zealand Threat Classification website, the entomological collections of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and the Auckland War Memorial Museum, continue to use the epithet "pascoi". The extra "e" added in Howes's original paper may have arisen from "Pascoe" being a more common form of the surname.

References

External links

Landcare Research Landcare may refer to: * Australian Landcare Council, a now superseded Australian government body * Landcare in Australia, umbrella approach promoting land protection in Australia * Landcare Research, New Zealand *The Landcare movement in Australi ...

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New Zealand Noctuidae
Moths described in 1912 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Noctuinae Taxa named by George Howes (entomologist) Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Hadeninae-stub