''Pyrgotis eudorana'' 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 ...

of the family

Tortricidae The Tortricidae are a family of moths, commonly known as tortrix moths or leafroller moths, in the order Lepidoptera. This large family has over 11,000 species described, and is the sole member of the superfamily Tortricoidea, although the genu ...

. 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 ...

and has been observed in both the North and South Islands. However it is regarded as a rare insect. This species inhabits native forest. Larvae exclusively feed on ''

Muehlenbeckia australis ''Muehlenbeckia australis'', the large-leaved muehlenbeckia or pohuehue, is a prostrate or climbing plant native to New Zealand. Description The species grows up to tall with grey bark. The leaves are on stiff petioles and are long. Lamina is ...

'' and adults are on the wing from November to April. Adults are attracted to light.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854, in Ramsbury – 31 March 1938, at Thornhanger, Marlborough) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern micr ...

in 1885 using a female specimen collected at

New Plymouth New Plymouth ( mi, Ngāmotu) is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. ...

in February. Later that year Meyrick gave a more detailed description of the species. Meyrick, in 1911, described the male of the species. In 1928

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...

discussed and illustrated this species in his publication ''The butterflies and moths of New Zealand''. In both 1971 and again in 1988 J. S. Dugdale confirmed the placement of this species within the genus ''Pyrgotis''. The female

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 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 adult female of this species as follows: In 1911 Meyrick described the adult male of the species as follows:

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has been observed in both the North and South Islands at locations such as

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

, Lake Horowhenua, Kaitoki,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, and

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

. It is regarded as being rare.

Habitat

This species inhabits native forest.

Behaviour

Adults of this species are on the wing in November to April with the species appearing to be most abundant in December. This species has been collected via a black light trap.

Host species

''P. eudorana'' larvae feed exclusively on ''

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13645099 Moths described in 1885 Archipini Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic moths of New Zealand