''Mnesarchella falcata'' is a species of primitive

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 Mnesarchaeidae. This species was first described by George William Gibbs in 2019, and 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 can be found in the Waikato, Taupō, Hawke's Bay and Rangitīkei regions

Taxonomy

This species was first described by George William Gibbs in 2019. 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 ...

specimen was collected at a Ranger Station near Mangawhero Stream in Ohakune by Gibbs and is in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

Description

''M. falcata'' is small with a white to pale ochreous-white head, a brownish-white thorax and forewings are coloured with shades of white to ochreous-white to pale brown to brown with patches of intense white. It is very similar in appearance to '' M. vulcanica'' and can only be reliably distinguished from that species through dissection of genitalia. The male genitalia of this species is diagnostic as it is sickle-shaped with periphallic arms.

Distribution and habitat

''M. falcata'' is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the Waikato, Taupo, Hawke's Bay and Rangitīkei regions. This species lives in damp mountain forests made up of rimu,

beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...

and ''

Libocedrus bidwillii ''Libocedrus'' is a genus of five species of coniferous trees in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to New Zealand and New Caledonia. The genus is closely related to the South American genera ''Pilgerodendron'' and ''Austrocedrus'', and t ...

''. It lives at higher altitudes of between 650 and 1100 m.

Behaviour

Adults of this species are on the wing in November and December.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108227855 Moths described in 2019 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths of New Zealand Mnesarchaeoidea Taxa named by George William Gibbs Endemic moths of New Zealand