''Chrysorthenches halocarpi'' is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

in the family

Plutellidae The Plutellidae are a family of moths commonly known as the diamondback moths, named after the diamondback moth (''Plutella xylostella'') of European origin. It was once considered to have three subfamilies: Plutellinae, Praydinae, and Scythrop ...

. It was first described by John S. Dugdale in 1996. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

and has been observed in the North and South Islands. The species inhabits native bush. Larvae have been collected in October and November. The larval hosts are ''

Halocarpus bidwillii ''Halocarpus bidwillii'', commonly known as the mountain pine or bog pine, is a species of conifer in the family Podocarpaceae. It is endemic to New Zealand. It is an evergreen shrub favouring both bogs and dry stony ground, seldom growing to ...

'' and '' H. biformis''. Adults have been observed on the wing from November to February.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by John S. Dugdale in 1996. The male

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

specimen, collected as a larva at the Lewis Pass summit and raised to maturity, is held at the

New Zealand Arthropod Collection The New Zealand Arthropod Collection is a collection of terrestrial invertebrates held by Maanaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Auckland, New Zealand.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

Description

LEPI Plutellidae Chrysorthenches halocarpi m

The larva of this species has a green body and brown head. The pupa can be found within a silk cocoon covered in frass. Dugdale described the adults of this species as follows: Specimens of this species has been confused with specimens of '' C. drosochalca'', but can be distinguished as ''C. halocarpi'' has a purple shaded ground colour to its forewings, has dark throat scales in comparison to the white in ''C. drosochalca'' and lacks the white rings on the middle tibia which can be seen in ''C. drosochalca''.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the North and South Island.

Behaviour

Larvae have been collected in October and November. Adults have been observed on the wing from November to February.

Hosts

The larval hosts of this species are ''

'' and '' H. biformis''.

DNA analysis

In 2020 this species along with the other species in the genus ''Chrysorthenches'' had their DNA and morphological characters studied.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13858870 Moths described in 1996 Plutellidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand Taxa named by John Stewart Dugdale