Biology:Parectopa leucocyma
Parectopa leucocyma | |
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Species: | P. leucocyma
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Binomial name | |
Parectopa leucocyma (Meyrick, 1889)[1]
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Parectopa leucocyma, also known as the kauri leafminer, is a species of moth in the family Gracillariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1889 using a specimen he collected in the Waitakere Range in Auckland and named Gracilaria leucocyma.[3] George Hudson discussed this species under the name Parectopa laucocyma in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.[4] The specimen collected by Meyrick was the only recorded specimen until this species was rediscovered in 1954 by K. A. J. Wise.[5] In 1961 Lajos Vári restricted the genus Parectopa to Holarctic species which do not have genital characteristics that resemble New Zealand species. As a result, John S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Acrocercops.[6] However the genus level classification of Acrocercops leucocyma is regarded as unsatisfactory and as such the species is currently also known as Acrocercops (s.l.) leucocyma.[1][7] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[6]
Description
Meyrick described this species as follows:
♀︎. 9mm. Head and palpi white. Antennae fuscous, beneath white. Thorax light grey. Abdomen whitish. Legs dark grey, ringed with white, posterior tibiae white. Fore-wings elongate, very narrow, pointed ; grey ; markings snow-white ; a rather broad irregular streak along inner margin from base to apex, interrupted before middle by a very oblique indistinct line of ground-colour ; eight short more or less wedge-shaped streaks from costa, first from 1⁄4, slenderly produced on costa towards base, first four outwardly oblique, remainder inwardly oblique, second and fourth reaching half across wing, the rest much shorter ; a small irregular blackish apical dot, preceded by a white dot : cilia ochreous-grey-whitish, round apex whiter, with indications of two dark fuscous lines. Hindwings whitish-grey ; cilia ochreous-grey-whitish.[3]
Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand.[1][8]
Biology and life cycle
The adult moths of this species are on the wing in December.[4]
Habitat and host species
The larvae feed on Agathis australis. They mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine starts at the tip of the leaf and then heads for the general direction of the petiole, sometimes double-backing along the way. Near the petiole, the host plant forms a gall, creating a sheltered site for the larva to overwinter. After hibernation, the larva chews itself out of the gall and pupates on the leaf in a parchment-like cocoon.[2]
References
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- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Acrocercops leucocyma (Meyrick, 1889)". Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. http://www.nzor.org.nz/names/1dc381e4-a8d6-4b8d-b9cb-237eb7fcf454.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Martin, N. A.. "Kauri leafminer - Acrocercops leucocyma". Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. https://nzacfactsheets.landcareresearch.co.nz/factsheet/InterestingInsects/Kauri-leafminer---Acrocercops-leucocyma.html.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Meyrick, Edward (1889). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera." (in en). Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 21: 154–188. https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3290339.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd.. pp. 322. OCLC 25449322. http://www.bugz.org.nz/WebForms/ResultDetails.aspx?CurrentDoc=C7E94865-492F-45DA-9777-CC8E1E8B1438&back=true&NewDoc=true&searchType=1&SearchString=G.V.+Hudson.
- ↑ Wise, K. A. J. (1962). "Parectopa leucocyma (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) rediscovered as a leafminer of kauri (Agathis australis Salisb.)". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Zoology 1: 373–375. http://www.bugz.org.nz/WebForms/ResultDetails.aspx?CurrentDoc=F7108F1F-5684-4626-9682-F21798B6B4BB&back=true&NewDoc=true&searchType=1&SearchString=Wise.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand 14: 1–269. ISBN 0477025188. https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/26324/FNZ14Dugdale1988.pdf. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ↑ , Wikidata Q70104394
- ↑ , p. 460, Wikidata Q45922947
Wikidata ☰ Q7136648 entry