Marbled snouter facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marbled snouter
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Copromorphidae
Genus:	Isonomeutis
Species:	I. restincta
Binomial name
Isonomeutis restincta Meyrick, 1923

Isonomeutis restincta, the marbled snouter, is a species of moth in the family Copromorphidae. It is endemic to New Zealand. This species is classified as "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" by the Department of Conservation.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1923 using a specimen collected by George Vernon Hudson at Kaeo, north of Auckland. Hudson discussed and illustrated this species both in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand and in his 1939 supplement to the same work. The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.

Description

Meyrick described the species as follows:

♀︎. 12 mm. Head brownish, sides of crown sprinkled with whitish. Palpi brownish sprinkled with dark fuscous, towards base beneath and on upper edge sprinkled with whitish. Thorax brownish. Abdomen rather dark fuscous, mixed laterally with white and on edges of two basal segments. Forewings elongate, not dilated posteriorly, costa gently arched, apex obtuse, termen very obliquely rounded ; white-brownish, irregularly and coarsely sprinkled with dark fuscous ; markings formed by suffused dark-fuscous irroration ; a streak along basal 2⁄5 of costa ; a moderate median fascia angulated in middle, posterior edge of angulation with a stronger dark-fuscous mark: cilia pale-brownish, basal third sprinkled with whitish and marked with well-defined spots of dark-fuscous irroration. Hindwings 6 absent; pale-brownish, speckled with fuscous; a transverse whitish spot on tornus, preceded and followed by dark-fuscous suffusion: cilia pale-brownish, with darker subbasal line, round tornus mixed at base with whitish and dark fuscous.

Distribution

I. restincta is endemic to New Zealand. It occurs in the Northland, Auckland and Taupo districts and in the Pureora Forest. In 1939 Hudson also stated in occurred in Wiltons bush in Wellington.

Biology and life history

Very little of the life history of this species is known. The adults have been recorded as being on the wing in November, December and January.

Habitat and host species

The host species of the larvae of I. restincta is unknown. However it has been hypothesised that it is a scale insect predator like Isonomeutis amauropa.

Conservation Status

This species has been classified as having the "At Risk, Naturally Uncommon" conservation status under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.

Images for kids

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  Illustration of female I. restincta by George Hudson.