Chloroclystis nereis
| Chloroclystis nereis | |
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| Male specimen | |
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| Female specimen | |
Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Geometridae |
| Genus: | Chloroclystis |
| Species: | C. nereis
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| Binomial name | |
| Chloroclystis nereis | |
| Synonyms | |
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Chloroclystis nereis is a moth in the family Geometridae.[2] It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1888. It is endemic to New Zealand.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1888 and was originally named Pasiphila nereis.[3] George Hudson discussed this species under the name Chloroclystis nereis in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[4]
Description
Meyrick described this species as follows:
Male, female. — 15-21 mm. Head, palpi, thorax, and abdomen grey sprinkled with blackish-grey and whitish, sides of thorax and base of abdomen (in fresh specimens) tinged with blue-greenish ; palpi 2. Antennae whitish annulated with black, ciliations in male 1⁄2. Legs blackish, middle and posterior pair irrorated with whitish, apex of all joints whitish. Forewings with hindmargin bowed, oblique, slightly sinuate above anal angle ; light grey, suffused with light blue-greenish (in fresh specimens) ; numerous curved waved darker grey or blackish-grey lines, alternating with a partial irregular white irroration ; anterior edge of median band from 1⁄3 of costa to 1⁄3 of inner margin, curved ; posterior edge from 2⁄3 of costa to 2⁄3 of inner margin, sinuate inwards beneath costa, and above and below middle ; median band towards margins, and a hindmarginal band interrupted beneath costa, obscurely suffused with darker grey, especially near costa ; a grey discal spot, sometimes obsolete ; an interrupted blackish hindmarginal line : cilia whitish, barred with grey, and with an obscure grey line, bars darker on basal half. Hindwings with hindmargin unevenly rounded ; grey, with obscure darker waved lines, more distinct towards inner margin, and somewhat irrorated with white in intervals ; an obscure dark grey discal spot, often merged in one of the lines ; cilia as hi forewings, but more obscure.[3]
Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand.
Habitat and hosts
The favoured habitat of this species consists of mountainous areas.[3][5] The larvae feed inside the flower heads of Celmisia lindsayi.[6] Adult moths have been shown to pollinate Celmisia discolor, Celmisia gracilenta and Helichrysum selago.[7]
Behaviour
C. nereis is day flying. Adults are on wing in January and February.[5]
References
- ^ Yu, Dicky Sick Ki. "Chloroclystis nereis Meyrick 1888". Home of Ichneumonoidea. Taxapad. Archived from the original on 25 March 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
- ^ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Chloroclystis_auctorum nereis". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
- ^ a b c Meyrick, Edward (1888). "Notes on New Zealand Geometrina". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 20: 47–62 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 96, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286BHL page 61899707 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ a b Hudson, George Vernon (1898). New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera). London: West, Newman & co. p. 43. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.7912.
- ^ B. Patrick (January 1982). "Lepidoptera of Danseys Pass, Otago". New Zealand Entomologist. 7 (3): 332–336. doi:10.1080/00779962.1982.9722418. ISSN 0077-9962. Wikidata Q54755440.
- ^ Richard B. Primack (July 1983). "Insect pollination in the New Zealand mountain flora". New Zealand Journal of Botany. 21 (3): 317–333. doi:10.1080/0028825X.1983.10428561. ISSN 0028-825X. Wikidata Q54669862.