''Stathmopoda albimaculata'' is a species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of ...

in the

Stathmopodidae Stathmopodidae is a family of moths in the moth superfamily Gelechioidea described by Edward Meyrick in 1913. Taxonomy and systematics *'' Actinoscelis'' Meyrick, 1912 *'' Aeoloscelis'' Meyrick, 1897 *'' Arauzona'' Walker, 865/small> *'' Atrijug ...

family. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found els ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. It is classified as Nationally Endangered by the

Department of Conservation An environmental ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for the environment and/or natural resources. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of the Environment, ...

Taxonomy

''S. albimaculata'' was 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, England, on 15 December 1870. He became the first person to describe ''Zelleria maculata ' ...

in 1931. Philpott used a female moth collected by

Charles E. Clarke Charles Ezra Clarke (April 8, 1790 – December 29, 1863) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Biography Clarke was born in Saybrook, Connecticut on April 8, 1790. He completed preparatory studies and graduated from Yale College in 18 ...

at Woodside, Taieri in December. This

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of seve ...

specimen is held at the

Auckland War Memorial Museum The Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira (or simply the Auckland Museum) is one of New Zealand's most important museums and war memorials. Its collections concentrate on New Zealand history (and especially the history of the Auck ...

George Vernon Hudson George Vernon Hudson FRSNZ (20 April 1867 – 5 April 1946) was a British-born New Zealand entomologist credited with proposing the modern daylight saving time. He was awarded the Hector Memorial Medal in 1923. Biography Born in London, Bri ...

also used this specimen to describe and figure the species in his 1939 publication ''A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand''.

Distribution

It is

. As well as being collected at Taieri, this species has also been found in central and western

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

The Catlins The Catlins (sometimes referred to as The Catlins Coast) comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southl ...

, Southland, and the

Waitaki Valley The Waitaki River is a large braided river that drains the Mackenzie Basin and runs some south-east to enter the Pacific Ocean between Timaru and Oamaru on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It starts at the confluence of th ...

Habitat and ecology

This species inhabits areas from 50m up to 900m in elevation. Along with habitat that includes the various ''Olearia'' species that host ''S. albimaculata'', this moth has also been found to inhabit lowland

podocarp Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pre ...

/hardwood forest. Adult moths are on the wing between the months of October and February. They are most common in January and February.

Host plants

The species is associated with the nationally endangered plant '' Olearia hectorii,'' as well as ''

Olearia odorata ''Olearia odorata'', the scented tree daisy, is a small divaricating shrub endemic to New Zealand, from the plant family Asteraceae. It has small light green leaves with a large amount of interlacing twigs and grows to around 2–4m in height. ...

'' and ''

Olearia virgata ''Olearia'', most commonly known as daisy-bush, is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Asteraceae, the largest of the flowering plant families in the world. Olearia are found in Australia, New Guinea and New Zealand. The genus ...

''.

Conservation status

''S. albimaculata'' has been 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 some ...

as being Nationally Endangered.

References

External links

Image of ''S. albimaculata'' plate LX fig. 6
Moths described in 1931 Stathmopodidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endangered biota of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand {{Stathmopodidae-stub