''Sabatinca aurella'' 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

Micropterigidae Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera (Kristense ...

. 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 ...

. The larvae of this species is variable in appearance but tends to be coloured yellow-green with greyish patches. The adults of the species have a pale golden appearance with silver or purple coloured bars on the forewings. The moth has an approximate wingspan of around 1cm. This species is found from the Coromandel Peninsula to the

Fox Glacier Fox Glacier (; officially Fox Glacier / Te Moeka o Tuawe) is a temperate maritime glacier located in Westland Tai Poutini National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Like nearby Franz Josef Glacier, Fox Glacier is one of th ...

and is on the wing from September to January. A larval host species is the liverwort '' Heteroscyphus lingulatus.'' The preferred habitat of this species is at higher altitudes than other New Zealand endemic species in this genus and it tends to prefer forest or sub alpine grass or scrubland.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by George Hudson in 1918. Hudson used a specimen collected by R. M. Sunley at an altitude of 3000 ft in the Tararua Ranges. In 1923 Edward Meyrick placed this species within the ''

Micropardalis ''Sabatinca'' is a genus of small primitive metallic moths in the family Micropterigidae. '' Palaeomicra'' and '' Micropardalis'' were both established as subgenera of ''Sabatinca'', but were both raised to generic level by Joël Minet in 1985. ...

'' genus. This placement was accepted by J. S. Dugdale in his 1988 publication ''Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa''. However G. W. Gibbs revised this combination in 2014 and placed this species within the ''Sabatinca'' genus. Meyrick had justified the placement of this species in the ''Micropardalis'' genus on the basis of the wing venation of that species. However Gibbs argued that a survey of wing venation across all ''Sabatinca'' species showed that a series existed and that ''S. aurella'' formed a part of that series. He therefore concluded that there was no longer any grounds for that generic distinction. The female lectotype specimen is held at 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 ...

Description

The larvae of this species is variable in appearance but tends to be coloured yellow-green with greyish patches. Hudson described the adults of this species as follows: A "pale shining golden" species, these moths have a forewing length of between 4.2 and 5.2mm. The wing patterns of ''S. aurella'' are regarded as being the most "straightforward" as compared to other New Zealand species in this genus. The forewing pattern is similar to that of ''Sabatinca doroxena''.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's most frequently encountered jaw-moths, this species is found from as far North as the Coromandel Peninsula to as far South as

Behaviour

This species is on the wing from the beginning of September until the end of January. It is most common from mid-November to the end of December.

Host species and habitat

A larval host species is the liverwort formerly known as ''Heteroscyphus normalis'' and now known as '' Heteroscyphus lingulatus''. This species tends to prefer forest or subalpine grasslands or shrublands habitat at a higher altitude than other New Zealand endemic species within the genus ''Sabatinca''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q51099901 Micropterigidae Moths described in 1918 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by George Hudson Endemic moths of New Zealand