''Erechthias decoranda'' is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

in the family

Tineidae Tineidae is a family of moths in the order Lepidoptera described by Pierre André Latreille in 1810. Collectively, they are known as fungus moths or tineid moths. The family contains considerably more than 3,000 species in more than 300 genera. ...

. It was described by

Edward Meyrick Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854 – 31 March 1938) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern microlepidoptera systematics. Life and work Ed ...

in 1925. This species 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 ...

and has been observed in the Chatham Islands. Larvae of species in the genus ''Erechthias'' feed on dead plant debris or the tough leaves of plants such as palms. Adults are on the wing in October, December and March.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1925 using four specimens collected by Charles Lindsay at

Mangere Island Mangere Island (Moriori: ) is part of the Chatham Islands archipelago, located about east of New Zealand's South Island and has an area of . The island lies off the west coast of Pitt Island, south-east of the main settlement in the Chathams, ...

in the Chathams and originally named ''Hectacma decoranda''.

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the Railway Mania, railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a ...

discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book ''The butterflies and moths of New Zealand'' under that name. In 1988

John S. Dugdale John Stewart Dugdale (5 April 1934 – 4 September 2020) was a New Zealand entomologist known for his contributions to knowledge about New Zealand lepidoptera, as well as tachinid flies and cicadas The cicadas () are a superfamily, the ...

synonymised ''Hectacma'' with the genus ''Erechthias'' and thus since that date this species has been known as ''Erechthias'' ''decoranda''. However Dugdale hypothesised that as a result of various anatomical structures this species could possibly be excluded from the ''Erechthias'' genus. The male

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

is held at the Canterbury Museum.

Description

Meyrick described this species as follows: }

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has been observed only in the Chatham Islands.

Host species

Larvae of species in the genus ''Erechthias'' feed on dead plant debris or the tough leaves of plants such as palms.

Behaviour

Adults are on the wing in October, December and March.

References

External links

Image of type specimen of ''Erechthias decoranda''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q13483279 Moths described in 1925 Erechthiinae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Edward Meyrick Endemic moths of New Zealand