''Mnesictena daiclesalis'' 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 ...

in the family

Crambidae Crambidae comprises the grass moth family of lepidopterans. They are variable in appearance, with the nominal subfamily Crambinae (grass moths) taking up closely folded postures on grass stems where they are inconspicuous, while other subfamilies ...

. It was described by Francis Walker in 1859. It is endemic to

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 ...

. The

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

is about 22 mm. The forewings are ferruginous brown, irrorated (sprinkled) with dark grey. The inner margin is rather broadly suffused with ochreous orange from the base to three-fourths and there is a narrow ochreous-orange streak along the costa from the base to three-fourths, enclosing a very slender snow-white costal streak from one-fourth to two-thirds. The lines are thick, cloudy, dark grey and very indistinctly defined. The reniform is obscurely outlined with dark grey. The hindwings are light ochreous yellowish with a dark-grey dot in the centre of the disc and partial indications of a slender greyish line at two-thirds.

References

Moths described in 1859 daiclesalis Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Francis Walker (entomologist) Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Spilomelinae-stub