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Sabatinca caustica
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Micropterigidae
Genus:	Sabatinca
Species:	S. caustica
Binomial name
	Sabatinca caustica; Meyrick, 1912
Synonyms
	Sabatinca barbarica Philpott, 1918;

Sabatinca caustica is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae.^[1] It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1912. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in both Southland and at Stewart Island / Rakiura. The adults of this species are variable in appearance with some specimens being mainly white on their forewings while others have forewings that are a more mottled purple-brown colour. Adults are on the wing from the start of October until the middle of December. Larvae feed on the surface of leafy liverworts.

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1912 using specimens collected in October at Seaward Moss, Invercargill by Alfred Philpott.^[2] The lectotype specimen, designated by J. S. Dugdale in 1988, is held at the Natural History Museum, London.^[3]^[1] In 2014 George Gibbs synonymised S. barbarica with S. caustica arguing that S. caustica is extremely variable in appearance and that the morphological and molecular evidence does not support the separation of these taxa.^[1]

Description

Meyrick described the adults of the species as follows:

♂. 9-10 mm. Head and thorax bronzy-orange-ochreous thorax sometimes marked with whitish. Antennae ochreous, towards apex blackish. Abdomen dark purple-grey. Forewings ovate-lanceolate, costa moderately arched, apex pointed, termen extremely obliquely rounded ; violet-coppery-ochreous, in one specimen largely suffused with whitish ; in one specimen a spot of dark purple-fuscous suffusion on dorsum towards base, one in disc beyond middle, and some irregular marking towards termen, and in the whitish-suffused specimen the dark purple-fuscous suffusion forms a blotch along anterior portion of costa connected with a large oblique blotch in middle of disc, a streak along dorsum from base to 2⁄3, a subterminal fascia enclosing a white spot on costa and a mark along termen in middle, but in the other two specimens there are no markings : cilia golden-ochreous. Hindwings deep purple ; cilia pale golden-ochreous.^[2]

The adults of this species are variable in appearance with some specimens being mainly white on their forewings while others have forewings that are a more mottled purple-brown colour.^[4]^[5]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.^[6] This species is found in Southland, including in the Takitimu Mountains, and at Stewart Island / Rakiura.^[1]

Behaviour

This species is on the wing from the start of October until the middle of December.^[1]

Host species and habitat

Larvae feed on the surface of leafy liverworts.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g George Gibbs (30 June 2014). "Micropterigidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera)" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 72. Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.72. ISSN 0111-5383. OCLC 917549814. Wikidata Q44902221. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2021.
^ ^a ^b Edward Meyrick (10 June 1912). "Descriptions of New Zealand Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 44: 124. ISSN 1176-6158. Wikidata Q109393380.
^ Dugdale , J. S. (23 September 1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa". Fauna of New Zealand. 14. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research: 54. doi:10.7931/J2/FNZ.14. ISSN 0111-5383. Wikidata Q45083134.
^ Hudson, G. V. (1928), The butterflies and moths of New Zealand, Illustrator: George Hudson, Wellington: Ferguson and Osborn Limited, p. 369, LCCN 88133764, OCLC 25449322, Wikidata Q58593286
^ Sandra R Schachat; Richard L Brown (26 May 2016). "Forewing color pattern in Micropterigidae (Insecta: Lepidoptera): homologies between contrast boundaries, and a revised hypothesis for the origin of symmetry systems". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 16 (1): 116. doi:10.1186/S12862-016-0687-Z. ISSN 1471-2148. PMC 4880886. PMID 27230100. Wikidata Q28602191.
^ "Sabatinca caustica Meyrick, 1912". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
^ Glime, Janice M. (2017). "Chapter 12: Terrestrial Insects: Holometabola – Lepidoptera: Micropterigoidea – Gelechioidea". Bryophyte Ecology. Vol. 2. Michigan Technological University.

This article incorporates text from Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, a publication from 1912, now in the public domain in the United States.