// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Chersadaula say to her date? "You moth me.
| Chersadaula | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Clade: | Pancrustacea |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Oecophoridae |
| Subfamily: | Oecophorinae |
| Genus: | Chersadaula Meyrick, 1923 |
| Species: | C. ochrogastra |
| Binomial name | |
| Chersadaula ochrogastra Meyrick, 1923[2] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Chersadaula ochrogastra is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae. It is the only species in the genus Chersadaula.[3] This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is classified as "Data Deficient" by the Department of Conservation.
Taxonomy
[edit]This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1923 from specimens obtained by George Hudson at Breaker Bay in Wellington.[4] Hudson found larvae of the species in September and raised them to adulthood in November.[4] Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 publication The Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand.[5] The lectotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[6]
There is one undescribed species in the same genus, but otherwise the genus is monotypic.[6]
Description
[edit]The eggs of this species are white and approximately 3mm in length, and cylindrical in shape although slightly broader at one end.[5]
The larvae, when fully grown, are approximately 2 cm long and are cylinder shaped with a tapered end.[5] The head is bright yellowish-brown, the first part of the larva is yellowish-white, then tinged with black, then whitish with irregular tinges of chocolate brown.[5]
Meyrick described the adult moths of the species as follows:
♂ 17 mm. Head ochreous-whitish, hairs greyish towards base. Palpi ochreous-whitish mixed with grey. Antennal ciliations ♂ 1+1⁄2. Thorax ochreous-whitish slightly tinged with rosy, and suffusedly mixed with grey. Abdomen light yellow-ochreous. Forewings elongate, costa slightly arched, apex obtuse, termen very obliquely rounded; light-brownish irregularly tinged with rosy-pink, and sprinkled with grey-whitish and dark fuscous; a dark-fuscous dot on base of costa; a spot of dark-fuscous irroration in disc towards base; stigmata roundish, dark fuscous, plical beneath first discal, opposite spots of dark-fuscous suffusion on costa and dorsum before these two and suffusedly connected with them, plical preceded by some white suffusion, a roundish blotch of dark-fuscous irroration between second discal and tornus, preceded by narrow whitish suffusion; an irregular illdefined and incomplete angulated subterminal line of dark-fuscous irroration, indented above angle: cilia pale ochreous tinged with rosy, base sprinkled with dark fuscous. Hindwings dark grey, lighter towards base; cilia grey. ♀ 16 mm. Abdomen yellow-ochreous, grey on sides and praeanal segment, anal segment whitish. Forewings broad-lanceolate, apex strongly and narrowly produced, pointed; colour and markings nearly as in ♂, but basal third more whitish, angularly prominent in disc, a stronger blackish mark between second discal and tornus. Hindwings rather broad-lanceolate, less than half length of forewings and about half as broad: cilia grey-whitish.[4]
Distribution
[edit]It is endemic to New Zealand.[2][7] It has been found in the North Island.[8] However this species has not been collected since 1923.[9][10]
Biology and behaviour
[edit]Larvae have been found under stones.[4] Adults emerge in early November.[5] The adult female of this species has noticeable wing reduction and is incapable of flight.[5][8]
Host species and habitat
[edit]The female adult moths place their eggs indiscriminately and they are not attached to anything.[5] The larvae of this moth live in silken cocoons in the earth and feed on grass roots.[5][8] The preferred habitat of the larvae of this species is along the sea-coast, about three metres above the high tide mark.[5]
Conservation status
[edit]This species has been classified as having the "Data Deficient" conservation status under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.[1]
References
[edit]
- 1 2 Hoare, R.J.B.; Dugdale, J.S.; Edwards, E.D.; Gibbs, G.W.; Patrick, B.H.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Rolfe, J.R. (2017). "Conservation status of New Zealand butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), 2015" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 20: 8.
- 1 2 "Chersadaula ochrogastra Meyrick, 1923". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ↑ "Chersadaula Meyrick, 1923". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Meyrick, Edward (1923). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 54: 162–169 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. pp. 272–273. OCLC 25449322.
- 1 2 Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera-annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–264. ISBN 0477025188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2018-05-31 – via Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.
- ↑ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 462. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. LCCN 2011379669. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
- 1 2 3 Sattler, K (1991). "A review of wing reduction in Lepidoptera". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). 60 (2): 243–288. ISSN 0524-6431 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ↑ Patrick, B. H.; Dugdale., J. S. (2000). "Conservation status of the New Zealand Lepidoptera" (PDF). Science for Conservation. 136: 21. ISBN 0478218672. ISSN 1173-2946. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2018-05-31 – via Department of Conservation.
- ↑ "NZTCS-lepidoptera 2013". www.doc.govt.nz. 2013. Retrieved 30 May 2018.