Biology:Glaucocharis pyrsophanes

Short description: Species of moth

Glaucocharis pyrsophanes
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Crambidae
Subfamily:	Crambinae
Tribe:	Diptychophorini
Genus:	Glaucocharis
Species:	G. pyrsophanes
Binomial name
Glaucocharis pyrsophanes (Meyrick, 1882)
Synonyms
Diptychophora pyrsophanes Meyrick, 1882 (Meyrick, 1882) Pareromene pyrsophanes

Glaucocharis pyrsophanes is a moth in the family Crambidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1882. It is endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1882 and named Diptychophora pyrsophanes. Meyrick gave a fuller description of this species in 1883. The female lectotype, collected at the Wellington Botanic Garden by Meyrick, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.

Description

Live G. pyrsophanes.

Meyrick described this species as follows:

Male, female. — ​13 ¹⁄₂-16 mm. Head ochreous or brownish - ochreous. Palpi light yellowish-ochreous, externally more brownish. Antennae dark fuscous. Thorax rather dark purplish-fuscous. Abdomen dark purplish-fuscous, with a light yellowish ring near base. Legs clear whitish-ochreous. Forewings triangular, very broad posteriorly, costa very gently arched, apex rounded, hindmargin oblique, indentations moderately deep ; ochreous-brown, almost wholly suffused with dark purplish-fuscous except narrowly along hindmargin and more broadly at apex and anal angle, and finely irrorated with grey, especially towards costa and disc beyond middle ; a very small triangular yellow spot on inner margin at ​¹⁄₄ ; an equally small rather subquadrate yellow spot on inner margin at ​³⁄₄ , with a pale yellow dot rather above and beyond its apex ; a very faintly perceptible darker transverse line from costa at ​¹⁄₄ to first dorsal spot, sharply angulated outwards beneath costa ; a suffused darker spot in disc above and beyond middle ; a small outwardly oblique triangular pale yellow spot on costa at ​³⁄₄ , sometimes closely preceded by a faint oblique yellowish costal mark ; a very small suffused pale yellowish spot on costa before apex ; a dark fuscous dot in apex, preceded by a clear white dot; sometimes a white dot on hind margin in upper indentation ; a slender dark fuscous hindmarginal line : cilia whitish ochreous, with a dark grey line near base, on indentations wholly clear white, a dark grey spot at apex, another between indentations, a third above anal angle, a fourth on anal angle. Hindwings fuscous-grey, with a very indistinct darker line posteriorly ; a dark fuscous hindmarginalline ; cilia grey- whitish, with a grey line near base.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.

Behaviour

Adults of this moth are known to pollinate Leptospermum scoparium and Helichrysum selago.

References

Wikidata ☰ Q13642969 entry