''Notoreas perornata'' is a species of moth 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 ...

. It 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 is found in the North Island from Northland to Westland as well as in the South Island on the coast of Marlborough.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1863 by Francis Walker using material collected in either Hawkes Bay or Taupo by

William Colenso William Colenso (17 November 1811 – 10 February 1899) FRS was a Cornish Christian missionary to New Zealand, and also a printer, botanist, explorer and politician. He attended the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and later wrote an acco ...

and named ''Fidonia perornata''. In 1884 Meyrick placed this species within the genus ''Pasithea''. In 1886 Meyrick renamed the genus to which he had previously assigned this species and placed it within the genus ''Notoreas''.

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 both in his 1898 book ''New Zealand Moths and Butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera)'' using the name ''Notoreas perornata'' and again in his 1928 book ''The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand''. In the later case Hudson followed

Louis Beethoven Prout Louis Beethoven Prout (1864–1943) was an English entomologist and musicologist. Prout specialised in the insect order (biology), order of Lepidoptera, especially the Geometridae, or geometer moths, on which he was a foremost authority. He cont ...

and used the name ''Lythria perornata''.

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 ...

regarded the 1898 illustrations as not a good match but approved of the illustration done by Hudson in 1928. The genus ''Notoreas'' was reviewed in 1986 by

R. C. Craw R. or r. may refer to: * ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbreviate ...

and the placement of this species within it was confirmed. In 2010 Brian Patrick,

Robert Hoare The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

and Birgit Rhode studied this species and others in its complex and discussed the taxonomy of the species. However species within the genus ''Notoreas'' are currently regarded as being in need of revision and in particular this species is regarded as needing more taxonomic work. 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

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

Description

Walker originally described the species as follows:

Distribution

''N. perornata'' is endemic to New Zealand. This species is found in the North Island from Northland to Westland and in the South Island on the coast in

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 ...

Life cycle and behaviour

The female moth lays her eggs within the flower buds of their host plant. When the larvae emerge from their eggs, they eat into the leaves or buds of their host, hiding from predators. Once they are large enough, they emerge to feed from the fresh growth of the plant. ''N. perornata'' pupate in a loose cocoon on the ground under their host. ''N. perornata'' has two generations each year with adults on the wing in the months of October to November and March to April. However, in the northern parts of New Zealand this species may be multivoltine. ''N. perornata'' are day-flying moths. They are low but fast flyers and constantly vibrate their wings to enable them to take off rapidly.

Host species

The host plants for the larvae of ''N. perornata'' are endemic species of ''

Pimelea ''Pimelea'', commonly known as rice flowers, is a genus of plants belonging to the family Thymelaeaceae. There are about 150 species, including 110 in Australia and 36 in New Zealand. Description Plants in the genus ''Pimelea'' are her ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q21304641 Larentiinae Moths described in 1863 Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Taxa named by Francis Walker (entomologist) Endemic moths of New Zealand