''Sabatinca demissa'' 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 ...

belonging to the family

Micropterigidae Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera (Kristense ...

. 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 northern half of the

North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...

. The larvae of this species are small in size and are coloured pale green with darker green or black patches on the rear of its body. The adult moth is coloured yellow-brown with black dots on its forewings. It is a small moth with a wingspan of approximately 6.5 mm in length. Unlike many species of moth, it does not have a pheromone communication system. The adults of the species are on the wing from November to January. The larvae of this species feed on leafy types of

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

. The adults of this species feed on the spores of fertile cones of '' Lycopodium volubile'' and '' Lycopodium scariosum''.

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 1923. Philpott used three specimens collected by Robin John Tillyard in November at Te Wairoa Falls. 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 in 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

The larvae are small in size with a mature larva being only 2.5 mm in length. It is coloured pale green and has darker green to black patches on the posterior portion of its body. Philpott described the adults of this species as follows: This yellow-brown coloured species has a wingspan of approximately 6.5 mm. In 1923 Philpott published a paper where he attempted to find differences between the species within the ''Sabatinca'' genus by studying the venation of their hindwings. This species does not have a long-distance

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

communication system. Its nearest living relative is '' S. incongruella'' which is found in the northern parts of the South Island.

Distribution

''S. demissa'' is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the northern half of the North Island.

Behaviour

This species is on the wing from the middle of November until the beginning of January. Adults are day flying but prefer to inhabit areas where the light is filtered through a leafy canopy rather than directly sunlit areas.

Host species

The larvae of this species feed on leafy types of

. The adults of this species feed on the spores of fertile cones of '' Lycopodium volubile'' and '' Lycopodium scariosum''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7395952 Micropterigidae Moths described in 1923 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths of New Zealand Taxa named by Alfred Philpott Endemic moths of New Zealand