Stathmopoda skelloni

Stathmopoda skelloni, the yellow featherfoot, is a species of moth in the Stathmopodidae family.[3] It is endemic to New Zealand.

Stathmopoda skelloni
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Stathmopodidae
Genus:
Stathmopoda
Species:
S. skelloni
Binomial name
Stathmopoda skelloni
(Butler, 1880)[1]
Synonyms[2]
  • Boocara skelloni Butler, 1880
  • Stathmopoda fusilis Meyrick, 1914
  • Stathmopoda phlegyra Meyrick, 1889

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1880 and named Boocara skelloni.[2][4] Butler named this species in honour of William Skellon who had sent various specimens he had collected in Blenheim to Butler.[4] In 1889 Edward Meyrick placed this species within the genus Stathmopoda.[5] The type specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2] The common name for this species is the yellow featherfoot.[6]

The name skelloni was previously incorrectly used for S. horticola, a similar looking species which can be distinguished by the more extensive markings on the forewing of that species.[7]

Description
Oecophoridae Stathmopoda skellon

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂♀︎. 12-15mm. Head, palpi, and antennae pale whitish-ochreous. Thorax whitish-ochreous. Abdomen pale whitish-ochreous, greyish-tinged. Legs pale whitish-ochreous, anterior pair infuscated, apex of posterior tibiae grey. Forewings elongate, very narrow broadest near base, long-pointed ; whitish-ochreous, sometimes yellowish-tinged ; markings grey, very variable, sometimes partially margined by an ochreous suffusion ; normally an elongate spot on inner margin at ​1⁄3, a second beneath costa in middle, a third in disc at ​2⁄3, a fourth before apex, and a slender subcostal line from second spot to costa near apex, but these tend to be variously connected and confused ; sometimes a streak along fold, or along anterior part of costa ; rarely a dark ochreous-fuscous suffusion towards base of inner margin : cilia light grey, sometimes ochreous-tinged. Hindwings and cilia light grey.[5]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in Taranaki, Wellington, Blenheim, Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, Lake Wakatipu and Invercargill.[1][5]

Habitat

S. skelloni is found in a variety of habitats including native forest, coastal dunes, shrubland as well as cultivated gardens and orchards.[7]

References
  1. "Stathmopoda skelloni (Butler, 1880)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  2. Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 108. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  3. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity. Volume two. Kingdom animalia : chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. Christchurch, N.Z.: Canterbury University Press. p. 4463. ISBN 9781877257933. OCLC 973607714.
  4. Butler, A. G. (1880). "On a collection of Lepidoptera Heterocera from Marlborough Province, New Zealand". Cistula Entomologica. 2: 541–562 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  5. Meyrick, Edward (May 1889). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 21: 154–188 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
  6. "Yellow Featherfoot (Stathmopoda skelloni)". iNaturalist.org. Retrieved 2019-02-04.
  7. Hoare, Robert J. B. (2014). A photographic guide to moths & butterflies of New Zealand. Ball, Olivier. Auckland: New Holland Publishers (NZ) Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 9781869663995. OCLC 891672034.


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