''Declana egregia'', commonly called the South Island lichen moth or zebra lichen moth, 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 Geometridae,

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 ...

. This species was first described by entomologists

Baron Cajetan von Felder Baron Cajetan von Felder (german: link=no, Cajetan Freiherr von Felder; 19 September 1814 – 30 November 1894) was an Austrian lawyer, entomologist and liberal politician. He served as mayor of Vienna from 1868 to 1878. Life and career Felder ...

and

Alois Friedrich Rogenhofer Alois Friedrich Rogenhofer (22 December 1831, in Vienna – 15 January 1897, in Vienna) was an Austrian entomologist. He was a curator at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, where he was the first keeper of the Lepidoptera. Rogenhofer was main ...

in 1875 under the name ''Chlenias egregia.'' This species resembles the North Island lichen moth but has fewer and coarser wing markings. It is found only in the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

and

Stewart Island Stewart Island ( mi, Rakiura, ' glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across the Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island with a total land ar ...

. The caterpillars of ''Declana egregia'' feed in summer on '' Pseudopanax'' species, especially five-finger (''

Pseudopanax arboreus ''Pseudopanax arboreus'' or five finger (Māori: ''puahou'' or ''whauwhaupaku''), is a New Zealand native tree belonging to the family Araliaceae. It is one of New Zealand's more common native trees, being found widely in bush, scrub and garden ...

''), mountain five-finger ('' P. colensoi''), and lancewood ('' P. crassifolius''). They are well-camouflaged, resembling a small bird-dropping when young and a ''Pseudopanax'' fruit when older. Larger larvae, up to 30 mm long, look like lichen-covered twigs and hold themselves stiffly out from the host plant by their prolegs. The moth overwinters as a

pupa A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

on the forest floor, in a loosely-spun cocoon encrusted with dirt. The South Island lichen moth appears on the New Zealand $100 note alongside a mōhua, with a backdrop of

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park i ...

References

External links

* The South Island lichen moth discussed on

RNZ Radio New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa), commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and cu ...

''Critter of the Week'
27 Oct 2017
Moths described in 1875 Ennominae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Ennominae-stub