Elachista helonoma

Elachista helonoma is a species of moth in the family Elachistidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand. It is classified as "At Risk, Relict'" by the Department of Conservation.

Elachista helonoma
Conservation status
Relict (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Elachistidae
Genus:	Elachista
Species:	E. helonoma
Binomial name
Elachista helonoma (Meyrick, 1889)
Synonyms
Cosmiotes helonoma (Meyrick, 1889)

Taxonomy

It was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1889 using specimens collected at the Port Hills in Christchurch and named Elachista helonoma.^[1] George Hudson described and illustrated the species under the same name in 1928.^[2] John S. Dugdale placed the species within the genus Cosmiotes in 1971 and followed this placement in his annotated catalogue in 1988.^[3][4] However, the genus Cosmiotes is now regarded as a synonym of Elachista and as a result, the species name is again Elachista helonoma.^[5] The lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.^[4]

Description

Meyrick described the adult moth of the species as follows:

♂︎♀︎ 8–10 mm. Head and thorax ochreous-whitish, sprinkled with ochreous. Palpi white. Antennae fuscous. Abdomen grey-whitish, anal tuft ochreous-whitish. Legs dark fuscous, posterior pair ochreous-whitish. Forewings lanceolate; whitish, more or less irrorated with ochreous, especially on dorsal half; a slender ochreous-fuscous median longitudinal streak from near base to middle, and a second from above extremity of first to near apex; a fuscous dot beneath apex of first streak, sometimes obsolete; inner margin more or less obscurely brownish towards base : cilia grey- whitish. Hind-wings pale grey; cilia grey-whitish.^[1]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.^[6][7] It can be found in Mid Canterbury and the Mackenzie areas.^[8]

Life cycle and behaviour

The larvae of this species are leaf miners and are very difficult to detect.^[9] The adults of the species are on the wing between January and March.^[1]

Host plants and habitat

Elachista helonoma is found exclusively in short tussock grasslands.^[1][9] The likely host of this species is Poa cita.^[8]

Conservation status

This species has been classified as having the "At Risk, Relict" conservation status under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.^[10]

References

1. Meyrick, Edward (1889). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 21: 154–188. Retrieved 16 May 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. p. 319.
3. Dugdale, J.S. (1971). "Entomology of the Aucklands and other islands south of New Zealand: Lepidoptera, excluding non-crambine Pyralidae" (PDF). Pacific Insects Monograph. 27: 55–172.
4. Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera-annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–264. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-01-27. Retrieved 2018-05-16 – via Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd.
5. "Elachista Treitschke, 1833 | Fauna Europaea". fauna-eu.org. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
6. "Elachista helonoma (Meyrick, 1889)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
7. Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 458. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
8. Patrick, Brian; Dugdale, John S. (2000). Conservation status of the New Zealand lepidoptera (PDF). Wellington, N.Z.: Department of Conservation, New Zealand. p. 22. ISBN 0478218672. OCLC 154670803.
9. Pawson, S.M.; Emberson, R.M. (2000). "The conservation status of invertebrates in Canterbury" (PDF). Conservation Advisory Science Notes. 320: 1–64.
10. Hoare, R.J.B.; Dugdale, J.S.; Edwards, E.D.; Gibbs, G.W.; Patrick, B.H.; Hitchmough, R.A.; Rolfe, J.R. (2017). "Conservation status of New Zealand butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), 2015" (PDF). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 20: 7.