''Ctenarchis'' is a genus 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 ...

s of the

Carposinidae Carposinidae, the "fruitworm moths", is a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera. These moths are narrower winged than Copromorphidae, with less rounded forewing tips. Males often have conspicuous patches of scales on either surface (Dugdale ...

family, containing only one species, ''Ctenarchis cramboides''. This species 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 ...

. It is classified as "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

Taxonomy

''C. cramboides'' was first described by John S. Dugdale in 1995 using material collected by C. J. Green and himself at Spraggs Bush in the

Waitākere Ranges The Waitākere Ranges is a mountain range in New Zealand. Located in West Auckland between metropolitan Auckland and the Tasman Sea, the ranges and its foothills and coasts comprise some of public and private land. The area, traditionally kno ...

on 9 March 1984. The

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 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 ...

Etymology

The name ''Ctenarchis'' refers to the pectinate (

comb A comb is a tool consisting of a shaft that holds a row of teeth for pulling through the hair to clean, untangle, or style it. Combs have been used since Prehistory, prehistoric times, having been discovered in very refined forms from settlemen ...

like) antenna (''kteinos'' is Greek for a comb and -"archis", a conventional carposinid suffix).

Description

The

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

is 35–40 mm for males and about 50 mm for females. The forewings are creamy white, with small sparse costal and subterminal maculations (spots) in brown, and two short longitudinal streaks, one basally on the costa. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may no ...

thorax The thorax or chest is a part of the anatomy of humans, mammals, and other tetrapod animals located between the neck and the abdomen. In insects, crustaceans, and the extinct trilobites, the thorax is one of the three main divisions of the ...

and

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors ...

are creamy white and the labial palpi are dark brown laterally. The hindwings are grey-buff, although darker brown-grey in females.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is only known from

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

and

Northland Northland may refer to: Corporations * Northland Organic Foods Corporation, headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota * Northland Resources, a mining business * Northland Communications, an American cable television, telephone and internet service ...

. Most specimens have been collected in

Titirangi Titirangi is a suburb of West Auckland in the Waitākere Ranges local board area of the city of Auckland in northern New Zealand. It is an affluent, residential suburb located 13 kilometres (8 miles) to the southwest of the Auckland city centr ...

Biology and behaviour

Adult specimens have been collected from December to March and in July and July using either

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 te ...

or malaise traps. At rest, the species holds its wings mostly around the body though partly overlapping.

Host plants and habitat

The host plants for the larvae of this species is unknown.

Conservation Status

''C. cramboides'' has been classified as having the "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" conservation status under the

New Zealand Threat Classification System The New Zealand Threat Classification System is used by the Department of Conservation to assess conservation priorities of species in New Zealand. The system was developed because the IUCN Red List, a similar conservation status system, had some ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q18522129, from2=Q5191610 Carposinidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 1995 Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand