''Stigmella progama'' 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 family
Nepticulidae. This species 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 ...
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 ...
. It is classified as "Data Deficient" 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, ...
. ''S. progama'' has only been collected on Bold Peak in Otago.
Taxonomy
This species was described by
Edward Meyrick
Edward Meyrick (25 November 1854, in Ramsbury – 31 March 1938, at Thornhanger, Marlborough) was an English schoolmaster and amateur entomologist. He was an expert on microlepidoptera and some consider him one of the founders of modern m ...
in 1924 using a female specimen collected by
George Hudson
George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...
at Bold Peak in the
Humboldt Mountains.
Meyrick named the species ''Nepticula progama''.
Hudson discussed and illustrated the species under that name in his 1928 publication ''The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.''
In 1988
John S. Dugdale assigned this species to the genus ''Stigmella''.
The
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
Natural History Museum, London
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum ...
.
Description
Meyrick described this species as follows:
Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand.
It has only been found in its type locality in the Humboldt Mountains in Otago at approximately 1200 m. above sea-level.
Biology and behaviour
Adults of this species are on the wing in January.
The male of the species has yet to be collected.
Conservation status
This species has been classified as having the "Data Deficient" conservation status 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 ...
.
References
External links
Image of holotype specimen
Nepticulidae
Moths of New Zealand
Taxa named by Edward Meyrick
Endemic fauna of New Zealand
Moths described in 1924
Endemic moths of New Zealand
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