Orophora unicolor

Short description: Species of moth

Orophora unicolor

Pupal case of Orophora unicolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom:  |

Animalia

Phylum:  |

Arthropoda

Class:  |

Insecta

Order:  |

Lepidoptera

Family:  |

Psychidae

Genus:  |

Orophora

Species:  |

O. unicolor

Binomial name
Orophora unicolor

(Butler, 1877)

Synonyms

* Psyche unicolor Butler, 1877
* Orophora toumatou Fereday, 1878

Illustration of a male adult moth by Des Helmore

Orophora unicolor is a bagmoth of the Psychidae family, endemic to New Zealand. It was described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1877, and redescribed in ignorance by Richard William Fereday in the same year.[1][2]

This species is restricted to dry areas of the South Island, where it feeds on tussock and cassinia. Its case is covered with layers of short (up to 10 mm) lengths of tussock, laid longitudinally and overlapping, so that it looks like a bundle of twigs.[2][3] Fereday collected O. unicolor on matagouri (Discaria toumatou) but noted that these were all pupal cases and that fragments of matagouri were not incorporated into the cases. The case averages 34 mm long[2] and can reach 40 mm.[3]

Only the male metamorphoses into a recognisable moth. The adult female never leaves the bag and has no wings.[2] The male is a hairy grey moth with translucent wings and a short abdomen and a 26.5 mm wingspan.[2]

## References

| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Orophora unicolor.

|

1. ↑ Butler, A.G. (1877). "On two collections of heteroceros Lepidoptera of New Zealand, with descriptions of new species". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London (2). https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/90449#page/29/mode/1up. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Fereday, R.W. (1877). "Description of new genera and species of Psychidae". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute 10. http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_10/rsnz_10_00_001440.pdf. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Miller, David (1971). Common Insects of New Zealand (2 ed.). Wellington: Reed. ISBN 0589014803.

Wikidata ☰ Q13482542 entry

0.00

(0 votes)

Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orophora unicolor. Read more

|

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Biology:Orophora_unicolor&oldid=321296"