''Helastia expolita'' 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 ...

in 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 ...

. 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 ...

to New Zealand and occurs in the Buller,

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

, North and Mid Canterbury regions.This species inhabits short tussock grassland in

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures lapse rate, fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is ...

to subalpine zones. Adult moths are

nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...

but little is known about the life history of ''H. expolita''. Adults have been observed on the wing in November. It has been hypothesised the larvae of ''H. expolita'' feed on the flowers of ''

Helichrysum The genus ''Helichrysum'' consists of an estimated 600 species of flowering plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae). The type species is '' Helichrysum orientale''. They often go by the names everlasting, immortelle, and strawflower. The na ...

'' species and then feed on mosses, lichens or shrubs growing nearby. It is classified as "At Risk, Relict'" by the

Department of Conservation Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

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 ...

in 1917 using a specimen collected by J.H. Lewis at Broken River, Canterbury and named ''Hydriomena expolita''.

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 the same name. Louis Beethoven Prout in 1939 placed this species in the genus ''

Euphyia ''Euphyia'' is a genus of moths in the family Geometridae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1825.Watson, L. & Dallwitz, M. J. (2003 onwards)"''Euphyia'' Hübner" ''Insects of Britain and Ireland: The Genera of Lepidoptera-Geometridae''. Version: 29 Dec ...

''. In 1987 Robin C. Craw placed this species within the genus ''Helastia''. The

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 ...

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. It specialises in the taxonomy and identification of indigenous and exotic invertebrate sp ...

Description

Philpott described the species as follows:

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It occurs in Buller,

North Canterbury Canterbury () is a region of New Zealand, located in the central-eastern South Island. The region covers an area of , making it the largest region in the country by area. It is home to a population of The region in its current form was estab ...

and

Mid Canterbury Mid Canterbury (also spelt Mid-Canterbury and mid-Canterbury) is a traditional, semi-official subregion of New Zealand's Canterbury Region extending inland from the Pacific coast to the Southern Alps. It is one of four traditional sub-regions o ...

Biology and lifecycle

Very little is known about the biology of ''H. expolita''. Adults are nocturnal and have been collected when on the wing in November.

Host species and habitat

This species prefers short tussock grassland habitat in

to subalpine zones. The host species for the larvae of ''H. expolita'' is unknown. It has been hypothesised the larvae of ''H. expolita'' feed on the flowers of ''Helichrysum'' species and then feed on mosses, lichens or shrubs growing nearby.

Conservation status

This moth is classified 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 s ...

as being "At Risk, Relict". The decline in the area and quality of this species habitat is one of the factors putting this species at risk.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13879080 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 1917 Cidariini Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand