''Aponotoreas villosa'' is a

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

Geometridae The geometer moths are 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, paraphyleti ...

. 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 ...

Taxonomy

This species was first described by

Alfred Philpott Alfred Philpott (15 December 1870 – 24 July 1930) was a New Zealand museum curator, entomologist and writer. He was born in Tysoe, Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in ...

as ''Notoreas villosa'' in 1917. In 1986 R. C. Craw described the new genus '' Aponotoreas'' and included ''A. villosa'' within it.

Distribution

The male of this species was first collected in 1910 at The Hump, near Waiau and the female of the species was discovered in 1915 by C. C. Fenwick in the same locality. ''A. villosa'' has also been found in the Hunter Mountains.

Habitat

''A. villosa'' inhabits grassland areas up to 1200 metres in altitude.

Life cycle

Adult moths are normally seen between December and February.

References

External links

Citizen science observations of species

Specimens held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum
Moths of New Zealand Hydriomenini Moths described in 1917 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Larentiinae-stub