''Stigmella aigialeia'' 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 ...

of the family

Nepticulidae Nepticulidae is a family of very small moths with a worldwide distribution. They are characterised by eyecaps over the eyes (see also Opostegidae, Bucculatricidae, Lyonetiidae). These pigmy moths or midget moths, as they are commonly known, inc ...

. 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 can be found on both the North and South Islands. The larvae of this species are

leaf miner A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which ...

s and are known to feed on the leaves of ''

Plagianthus divaricatus ''Plagianthus divaricatus'' or saltmarsh ribbonwood is a plant that is endemism, endemic to New Zealand. The Māori language, Māori name is makaka. Other common names it is known by marsh ribbonwood, Houi and Runa. The species was first descr ...

.'' Larvae have been recorded as feeding in April, May and September. They pupate in leaf litter on the ground under their host plant. Adults of this have been observed on the wing in January, February, September and October, in coastal locations particularly in the preferred habitat of its host plant, that is salt marshes and sandbanks.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1989 by Hans Donner and Christopher Wilkinson from specimens collected in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, Queen Charlotte Sound and

Invercargill Invercargill ( , ) is the southernmost and westernmost list of cities in New Zealand, city in New Zealand, and one of the Southernmost settlements, southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland Region, Southlan ...

. The male

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, collected at Huia Reserve on 29 September 1973 by B. M. May and emerged on the 23 October 1973, 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 of this species are pale yellow in colour and are approximately 3mm long. 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 ...

of the adult moth is approximately 4 mm. The moth is grey in appearance with brown grey and then whitish forewings. The forewings have two black spots. The hindwings are grey in colour. It is similar in appearance to the female of ''S. hoheriae'' but is much smaller.

Distribution

''S. aigialeia'' is endemic to New Zealand. This species can be found both in the North and South Islands.

Biology and behaviour

The larvae of this species

mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging *Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun M ...

the leaves of their host plant. Adults have been recorded in January, February, September and October. Probably in one but possibly in two generations per year.

Habitat and host plants

The larvae feed on ''

'' and can therefore this species is found in the coastal habitat such as salt marshes and sandbanks which is favoured by that shrub.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7616521 Nepticulidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 1989 Endemic moths of New Zealand