Sabatinca Demissa on:
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''Sabatinca demissa'' is a species of
The larvae are small in size with a mature larva being only 2.5 mm in length. It is coloured pale green and has darker green to black patches on the posterior portion of its body.
Philpott described the adults of this species as follows:
This yellow-brown coloured species has a wingspan of approximately 6.5 mm. In 1923 Philpott published a paper where he attempted to find differences between the species within the ''Sabatinca'' genus by studying the venation of their hindwings. This species does not have a long-distance pheromone communication system.
The larvae of this species feed on leafy types of liverwort. The adults of this species feed on the spores of fertile cones of '' Lycopodium volubile'' and ''
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 ...
belonging to 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 ...
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 ...
and is found in the northern half of the North Island
The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...
. The larvae of this species are small in size and are coloured pale green with darker green or black patches on the rear of its body. The adult moth is coloured yellow-brown with black dots on its forewings. It is a small moth with a wingspan of approximately 6.5 mm in length. Unlike many species of moth, it does not have a pheromone communication system. The adults of the species are on the wing from November to January. The larvae of this species feed on leafy types of liverwort. The adults of this species feed on the spores of fertile cones of '' Lycopodium volubile'' and ''Lycopodium scariosum
''Diphasium scariosum'', synonym ''Lycopodium scariosum'', commonly known as spreading clubmoss or creeping club moss, is a species in the club moss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus '' Diphasium'' is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group ...
''.
Taxonomy
This species was first described byAlfred 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 1923. Philpott used three specimens collected by Robin John Tillyard in November at Te Wairoa Falls. The holotype specimen is held in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection. Its nearest living relative is '' S. incongruella'' which is found in the northern parts of the South Island.
Description
The larvae are small in size with a mature larva being only 2.5 mm in length. It is coloured pale green and has darker green to black patches on the posterior portion of its body.
Philpott described the adults of this species as follows:
This yellow-brown coloured species has a wingspan of approximately 6.5 mm. In 1923 Philpott published a paper where he attempted to find differences between the species within the ''Sabatinca'' genus by studying the venation of their hindwings. This species does not have a long-distance pheromone communication system.
Distribution
''S. demissa'' is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the northern half of the North Island.Behaviour
This species is on the wing from the middle of November until the beginning of January. Adults are day flying but prefer to inhabit areas where the light is filtered through a leafy canopy rather than directly sunlit areas.Host species
The larvae of this species feed on leafy types of liverwort. The adults of this species feed on the spores of fertile cones of '' Lycopodium volubile'' and ''Lycopodium scariosum
''Diphasium scariosum'', synonym ''Lycopodium scariosum'', commonly known as spreading clubmoss or creeping club moss, is a species in the club moss family Lycopodiaceae. The genus '' Diphasium'' is accepted in the Pteridophyte Phylogeny Group ...
''.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7395952 Micropterigidae Moths described in 1923 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Alfred Philpott Endemic moths of New Zealand