''Stigmella aliena'' is a

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 ...

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, incl ...

. 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 ...

and has only been observed at Mount Arthur in the north western area of the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasma ...

. This species is known only from the male

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. The larvae of this species are likely

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, the mother clade of wasp ...

s, however the biology of this species is currently unknown, as is the female of this species. The adults are on the wing in December.

Taxonomy

This species was first described in 1989 by Hans Donner and Christopher Wilkinson from a specimen collected on Mount Arthur, at 1200 m, on 25 December 1921 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 ' ...

. Donner and Wilkinson noted the "marked differences" in the genitalia of the holotype specimen of this species when compared to other species of moth in this genus. The male holotype specimen is held at 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.http://biocol.org/institutional-collection/new-zealand-arthropod-collection It specialises i ...

Description

The male of the species has a white tuft, scrape and collar as well as a white thorax. The antennae has approximately 34 segments and is coloured brown as is the abdomen of the male. The length of the forewings is about 3 mm. The forewings are coloured white but with gold and purple reflective colouration. On various portions of the forewings, the male moth has large patches of brown scales as well as a small black spot in the middle of the forewings and some black scales at the end of the wings. The fringes of the forewings are silvery white as are the hindwings and fringe.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. It has only been collected on Mount Arthur in the north western area of the South Island.

Biology

As at 1989 the female of the species is unknown, as is the biology of this species.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7616528 Nepticulidae Moths of New Zealand Endemic fauna of New Zealand Moths described in 1989 Endemic moths of New Zealand