Tingena actinias

Species of moth, endemic to New Zealand

Tingena actinias

Scientific classification
Domain:  | Eukaryota
Kingdom:  | Animalia
Phylum:  | Arthropoda
Class:  | Insecta
Order:  | Lepidoptera
Family:  | Oecophoridae
Genus:  | Tingena
Species:  |

T. actinias

Binomial name
Tingena actinias

(Meyrick, 1901)[1]

Synonyms[2]

* Borkhausenia actinias Meyrick, 1901
* Borkhausenia armigerella (Walker, 1864)

Tingena actinias is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[1] It is endemic to New Zealand and is found on the North and South Islands. The larvae of this species are leaf litter feeders. The preferred habitat of this species is shrubland and it has also been observed in gumland heaths and in beech forest.

## Taxonomy[edit]

Tingena actinias male lectotype

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1901 using four specimens collected by George Hudson in Wellington and named Borkhausenia actinias.[3] In 1926 Alfred Philpott illustrated the male genitalia of this species but used the name Borkhausenia armigerella in his publication.[2][4] In 1928 George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his publication The butterflies and moths of New Zealand as a variety of Borkhausenia armigerella (in the sense of Meyrick, not Walker).[5] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the genus Tingena.[2] This placement was confirmed in the Inventory of New Zealand Biodiversity.[1][6] The male lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

## Description[edit]

Illustration by George Hudson.

Meyrick describe the adults of this species as follows:

> ♂. 16-18 m.m. Head yellow. Palpi whitish, base of terminal joint, and second joint except towards apex dark fuscous externally. Antennae grey. Thorax yellow, shoulders dark fuscous. Abdomen dark grey. Forewings elongate, moderate, costa moderately arched, apex round-pointed, termen rather strongly oblique ; yellow ; a thick dark fuscous costal streak along basal third, posteriorly suffused ; plical stigma well-marked, dark fuscous, placed in an undefined streak of dark fuscous irroration extending from disc above middle to dorsum before middle but sometimes almost obsolete ; second discal stigma dark fuscous, connected with tornus by a wedge-shaped dark fuscous streak, a cloudy fuscous or dark fuscous curved subterminal line, sharply indented inwards beneath costa ; a small fuscous or dark fuscous apical spot : cilia yellow, with thick dark fuscous bars at apex and tornus. Hindwings grey, becoming dark grey posteriorly; cilia grey.[3]

## Distribution[edit]

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been collected in both the North and the South Islands.[1][7][8]

## Hosts and habitat[edit]

The larvae of this species are leaf litter feeders and the preferred habitat is shrubland.[8] This species has also been observed in New Zealand gumland heaths and in beech forests.[9][10]

## References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tingena actinias.

1. ^ a b c d Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2\. p. 462\. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
2. ^ a b c d John Stewart Dugdale (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. 14: 99. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
3. ^ a b Edward Meyrick (December 1901). "XVII. Descriptions of New Lepidoptera from New Zealand". Transactions of the Royal Entomological Society of London. 49 (4): 574. doi:10.1111/J.1365-2311.1901.TB01373.X. ISSN 0035-8894. Wikidata Q56158899.
4. ^ A. Philpott (1926). "New Zealand Lepidoptera: Notes and Descriptions". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 56: 391–392. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q63100760.
5. ^ George Vernon Hudson (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 99, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
6. ^ "Tingena actinias (Meyrick, 1901)". biotanz.landcareresearch.co.nz. 12 February 2015. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
7. ^ Alan Emmerson; Robert Hoare (28 October 2019). "Lepidoptera from Redvale, Albany, north of Auckland, New Zealand, 2004-2016: an annotated list". The Wētā. 53: 43–70. ISSN 0111-7696. Wikidata Q105342215.
8. ^ a b Dugdale, J. S. (2001). Cloudy Bay coastal habitats : entomological values of the foreshore and associated inland habitats. New Zealand. Department of Conservation. Nelson/Marlborough Conservancy. Nelson, N.Z.: Dept. of Conservation, Nelson/Marlborough Conservancy. ISBN 0-478-22083-9. OCLC 946528979.
9. ^ R. J. B. Hoare (February 2011). "Lepidoptera of gumland heaths — a threatened and rare ecosystem of northern New Zealand" (PDF). New Zealand Entomologist. 34 (1): 67–76. doi:10.1080/00779962.2011.9722212. ISSN 0077-9962. Wikidata Q54578051.
10. ^ J. S. Dugdale (June 1996). "Natural history and identification of litter‐feeding Lepidoptera larvae (Insecta) in beech forests, Orongorongo Valley, New Zealand, with especial reference to the diet of mice(Mus musculus)". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand. 26 (2): 251–274. doi:10.1080/03014223.1996.9517513. ISSN 0303-6758. Wikidata Q56091899.

Taxon identifiers|

* Wikidata: Q13860122
* GBIF: 1837856
* iNaturalist: 514780
* IRMNG: 10747241
* NZOR: ab747834-35b3-4e31-83b5-aca1a88671db

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