''Stigmella hamishella'' 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. It is endemic to

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 been observed in 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 ...

. The larvae mine the leaves of ''

Olearia moschata ''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 i ...

''. The mine consists of blotches, mainly on the lower leaves. The preferred habitat of ''S. hamishella'' is the same as its host plant, montane to subalpine shrubland. Adults are on the wing in December.

Taxonomy

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

Fiordland Fiordland is a geographical region of New Zealand in the south-western corner of the South Island, comprising the westernmost third of Southland. Most of Fiordland is dominated by the steep sides of the snow-capped Southern Alps, deep lakes ...

. 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, collected at

Homer Tunnel The Homer Tunnel is a 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long road tunnel in the Fiordland region of the South Island of New Zealand, opened in 1953. New Zealand State Highway 94 passes through the tunnel, linking Milford Sound to Te Anau and Queensto ...

, at 900 m altitude on the 29 December 1983 by B. H. Patrick, is held in the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.

Description

Donner and Wilkinson described the male of this species as follows: Donner and Wilkinson described the female of the species as follows: Donner and Wilkinson explained that the differences in genitalia and general appearance of this species indicated that is a discrete species.

Distribution

This species is endemic to

. It has been observed in the South Island.

Host and habitat

The larvae feed on ''

''. The preferred habitat of ''S. hamishella'' is the same as its host plant, montane to subalpine shrubland.

Behaviour

The larvae of this species mine the leaves of their host plant. The mine consists of blotches, mainly on the lower leaves. Adults have been recorded in December.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7616657 Nepticulidae Moths of New Zealand Moths described in 1989 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic moths of New Zealand