Ichneutica sulcana
Ichneutica sulcana | |
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Female | |
Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Superfamily: | Noctuoidea |
Family: | Noctuidae |
Genus: | Ichneutica |
Species: | I. sulcana
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Binomial name | |
Ichneutica sulcana | |
Synonyms | |
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Ichneutica sulcana, the dark underwing wainscot, is a
Taxonomy
This species was described by
Description
Eggs of this species are hemispherical in shape and green in colour with a honeycomb on the surface.[5]
George Hudson described the larva of this species as follows:
The full grown larva is about 1+3⁄4 inch in length, much attenuated posteriorly, pale reddish-ochreous, with numerous fine wavy darker lines; the subdorsal and lateral lines are straight and much more conspicuous; the spiracles are black, and there is a dark olive-green line down the midback.[6]
George Hudson described the adults of I. sulcana as follows:
The expansion of the wings is from 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 inches. The fore-wings are light ochreous with the veins white; there is a shaded, brownish, longitudinal streak near the apex, another from the end of the cell to the termen, a stronger streak from the base of the wing to near the tornus, and another along the dorsum; there is a minute black dot near the base above the middle, a slightly larger dot at about one-third, a conspicuous dot between the origins of veins 3 and 4, and a very minute dot on vein 6. Hind-wings dark blackish-grey, cilia paler.[7]
The wingspan of the adult male of this species is between 35 and 46 mm and for the female is between 42 and 48 mm.[4] Specimens from the northern North Island can be smaller and have more pronounced shading on the forewing.[4]
I. sulcana and I. supersulcana are very similar in appearance with no reliable visible differences between the two having been discovered.[4] However I. supersulcana tends to be larger and paler with less well defined longitudinal dark streaks to its forewings.[4] There are distinct differences in the male abdomen and genitalia of these two species.[4] As at 2019 the two species have not been discovered to share a range as I. supersulcana appears restricted to the higher altitudes of the Tararua Range and Tongariro National Park.[4] I. sulcana might also be confused with I. semivittata but I. sulcana is a larger species with a much darker abdomen and hindwing, and has only 1 to 3 dots on the forewing postmedian line.[4]
When at rest amongst grass this species is well camouflaged.[5]
Distribution
This species is endemic to New Zealand.[8] I. sulcana are fairly common and are found throughout the North, South and Stewart Islands at a range of altitudes from the lowlands to the alpine zone.[9][4] This species is said to be more common in the North Island.[5]
Habitat
I. sulcana prefers to live in native grass, shrub and wetland habitats as well as in native forest.[9]
Behaviour
Adults of this species are on the wing from December to May but have been recorded as on the wing in August and September in the northern parts of the North Island.[4] Adults are attracted to sugar traps as well as to light.[6][5]
Life cycle
The egg catches after about a week to a bright green larva.[5] After feeding for a period, hibernates during winter during winter and is fully grown in spring.[5] The larva pupates in a space just beneath the surface of the soil.[5][6] The pupa is coloured brown and the adult moth emerges after a few weeks.[5]
Host species
The larval host plants of I. sulcana include Gahnia setifolia,[10] Melicytus ramiflorus,[5] and Microlaena avenacea as well as forest grasses and sedges and species within the genus Carex.[4]
References
- ^ a b "Ichneutica sulcana (Fereday, 1880)". www.nzor.org.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
- Wikidata Q104373652.
- ^ Wikidata Q45083134.
- ^ Wikidata Q94481265. Archived from the original(PDF) on 18 April 2021.
- ^ Wikidata Q115000559.
- ^ OCLC 25449322.
- )
- ^ "Ichneutica sulcana (Fereday, 1880)". nztcs.org.nz. 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-08.
- ^ Wikidata Q59396160.
- Wikidata Q109420935
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera), by George Vernon Hudson (1898)