''Aoraia enysii'', also known as the forest ghost moth is a species of

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

of the family

Hepialidae The Hepialidae are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order. Moths of this family are often referred to as swift moths or ghost moths. Taxonomy and systematics The Hepialidae constitute by far the most diverse group of the infraorder Exop ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. This is the only species of the genus ''

Aoraia ''Aoraia'' is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are 13 described species, all endemic to New Zealand. The type species of this genus is ''Porina dinodes'' Meyrick, 1890. This genus contains some large species with a wingspan of up ...

'' that can be found in the

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

as well as the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. This species can be found from Mount Te Aroha southwards. This species was described by

Arthur Gardiner Butler Arthur Gardiner Butler F.L.S., F.Z.S. (27 June 1844 – 28 May 1925) was an English entomologist, arachnologist and ornithologist. He worked at the British Museum on the taxonomy of birds, insects, and spiders. Biography Arthur Gardiner B ...

in 1877 from a specimen obtained in the North Island by

J. D. Enys J, or j, is the tenth letter of the English alphabet. J may also refer to: * Palatal approximant in the International Phonetic Alphabet * J, Cyrillic letter Je Astronomy * J, a provisional designation prefix for some objects discovered bet ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 60–74 mm for males and 78–110 mm for females. Adults are on wing from February to May. The larvae feed on leaf litter.

References

External links

Observations by citizen scientists
Moths described in 1877 Hepialidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Hepialidae-stub