Exciting moth find today!! Will Frost found a Nationally Endangered NZ moth species, the elusive and still not properly named *Scythris* species 'stripe'. This is (about) the eighth time this moth has been recorded, ever.

It's so far only been found on Kaitorete Spit and in the native tusocklands of Christchurch city’s Port Hills. The moths have mostly been seen on flowers of the native *Oxalis exilis*, and this is likely the host plant for its caterpillars.

It's a small but distinctive moth with a stylish stripe, and had previously only been seen in April to late May. Will’s find is the first from June.

Every observation counts as we piece together its natural history and habitat requirements, to figure out how rare it really is and what we can do to help it

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/369223683

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations?nelat=-43.382235713&nelng=173.35958541&preferred_place_id=6803&swlat=-44.013958573&swlng=171.99839583893092&taxon_id=211586

#mothodon #lepidoptera #nz #conservation #EndangeredSpecies #iNaturalistNZ #iNaturalist #Scythris #entomology #insects

Here's another elegant NZ moth for you. This one's called the Alpine Treasure Owlet (*Ichneutica maya*).

It's mostly seen up in the mountains in the South Island but also in the mountains of the lower North Island. I saw this one up at Boyle Village in the North Canterbury Southern Alps.

As is the case with many NZ moths, the "life history in the wild of this species is unknown, nor has its larval host species been confirmed" (quoting its Wikipedia page, which is referencing Robert Hoare's 2019 Fauna Series revision of the genus). We've got 144 observations of it so far on #iNaturalist.

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342867458
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55146832010

#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #Noctuidae #Ichneutica #nz #entomology

"x" marks the moth!

Usually moths have sweeping curves and circles in their markings. Not so *Eudonia asterisca*, an aptly named NZ-endemic moth. It has a distinctive "x" mark on each forewing.

I photographed this moth at a moth light in the North Canterbury mountains. There are 211 observations of this moth on iNaturalist so far, mostly in the mountains, from throughout the country.

I don't know what its caterpillars eat. (I'm not sure if anyone knows, as it's not listed in NZ's Plant-SyNZ database and all iNat observations are of adults.)

https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342713940

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #entomology #nz #iNaturalistNZ

Here's another NZ moth wing for you.

This one is from a particularly elegant colour morph of a NZ Green Carpet Owlet (*Ichneutica plena*). Usually they're greener than this.

(I'm continuing to have fun uploading my big backlog of moth photos to #iNaturalist. Caution: there will be more moth photos.)

Whole moth on #iNaturalistNZ: https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342710304
Full-size on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55144902646/

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #insects #entomology #photography #nz

I can get lost in moths. They're one of nature's art galleries.

Here's a close-up of the wings of NZ's Greater Alpine Grey (Ichneutica virescens).

You can zoom into the full-resolution version on Flickr at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55143236921/

See the whole moth on iNaturalist NZ at: https://www.inaturalist.nz/observations/342554964

#mothodon #Lepidoptera #moths #nz #photography #entomology

Moth? Moth!

Here's the NZ endemic moth, the appropriately named Exquisite Carpet, *Asaphodes adonis*, which I just uploaded to #iNaturalist. It's known only from NZ's South Island.

It's always a treat to find these.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/341348871

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #entomology

It's a cold blustery cloudy day in much of Aotearoa-NZ (it's hailing outside as I type this) so to brighten up your day here's a snowberry yellow moth.

I just uploaded my photo from 2023 to #iNaturalist as I work through my backlog. It's now the 29th observation on iNat of the species and will be the 33rd on GBIF once my ID is confirmed.

As the name suggests, the caterpillars of this pretty yellow moth eat NZ snowberries (Gaultheria species).

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340853987
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mollivan_jon/55123719913/

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #nz #yellow

Here's an excellent moth from my backlog that I just uploaded to #iNaturalist

It's the Purerehua, or South Island Lichen Moth, *Ipana egregia*. It's a large NZ endemic moth restricted to the South Island that blends in well with lichens on rocks.

This is the moth also seen on the NZ hundred dollar note.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340498358

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #entomology #iNaturalistNZ

I've been continuing to upload my backlog of moth photos to #iNaturalist and am being reminded of how there are still *a lot* of NZ insects that don't have formal scientific descriptions and names.

Here are three of my recently uploaded moths that can only be identified to genus because they are unnamed. They've been given tag names on iNat while they wait in line for a taxonomist to figure out exactly what they are and how many species they are.

In 2010 it was estimated that about 11,000 endemic terrestrial insect species in NZ had names . About 7,000 were still waiting to be named. So, about two of every five NZ insects species still lack even a name.

That was mentioned in a report to government in 2021 about how we don't know if there's a general decline in endemic insects here. It concluded that "there are insufficient data to determine the overall state and trend of insect populations in Aotearoa New Zealand."

As a country we could be doing a lot more.

https://inaturalist.nz/observations/338694677
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339970870
https://inaturalist.nz/observations/340090084
https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2024-01/PMCSA-21-10-02-V1-Intern-report-Jono-Sept-2021-final.pdf

#taxonomy #biodiversity #entomology #insects #mothodon #nz

Here are two stylish NZ moths for your day.

There's the Green & Purple Carpet moth, *Hydriomena purpurifera*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339224798

And, there's the Yellow & Brown Carpet moth, *Asaphodes prasinias*: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/339224786

Caterpillars of the Yellow & Brown Carpet moth have been raised eating native buttercups. I'm not sure if anyone knows what caterpillars of the Green & Purple Carpet moth eat.

(I've just uploaded these moths to iNaturalist from some moth lighting in the North Canterbury Southern Alps from last January, as part of my ongoing push to upload my backlog of moth photos.)

#mothodon #moths #Lepidoptera #NZ #entomology