New Zealand notes

[John Grehan]

More notes from Brian Patrick.


Hi Everyone, 
lots of news this time....thanks John for your news too. 

People 
Sadly we note the untimely death of two notable lepidopterists. 
Dr Ebbe Nielson, head of CSIRO Entomology, died in California recently en
route to a conference. Ebbe was a indefatigable proponent of entomolgy on a
global scale. 

Maitland Emmet (age 92), leading British micro-lepidopterist died on March
2 after an emergency operation to clear an abdominal obstruction. He was
senior editor of "The Moths & Butterflies of Great Britain & Ireland" and
had just completed Vol 4 days before his death. 

On a happier note, Eric Edwards and wife Sandra have hatched a son (Hamish)
on the 13 March. Well done. I nervously drove them both to 1800m on St
Bathans Range just 10 days earlier! It was a very bumpy road to be on given
the circumstances, but the cellphone was handy in case we had to call on a
helicopter to pluck her to hospital! 
Good to see Robert Hoare (Landcare Research Auckland) on TV recently
discussing monarch butterflies.

New publications out include: 
Aurelian Legacy - Brittish butterflies and their Collectors by Michael
Salmon; Millennium Atlas of butterflies in Britain & Ireland. 
On the local front DoC have published Stephen Pawson's "The Conservation
Status of Invertebrates in Canterbury" and my "Lepidoptera of Small-Leaved
Divaricating Olearia in New Zealand and Their Conservation Priority". Both
the last two are available at low prices from DoC, Box 10420, Wellington,
and have many colour pictures of adults and larvae. 

Life Histories 
The larvae of Asaphodes stinaria that I reported last time, matured on
Ranunculus and I now have several pupae. 
I have reared "Scoparia" pura from a seepage moss at 1750m on St Bathans
Range; female shorter winged than male. 
I think I now have the previously unknown male of the flightless female of
the new Pseudocoremia reported and figured in above Olearia moth
publication. I reared two from Black Forest Road O. odorata. Light-trapping
at the same site in February turned up 3 more and I spied one worn male in
Graeme White's collection from a nearby site. 
John, you asked re "C" microbathra host. I reared it off Cyathea colensoi. 

Exploration 
February witnessed a hectic schedule of trips and associated
light-trapping. Firstly a night at Mt Watkin, just north of Dunedin,
yielded 61 moths in what is known as a rich site already. Next day we
headed for the Benmore Range east of Twizel. A marginal track gave access
to the broad summit plateau but high winds curtailed much collecting. An
undescribed Scythris, that I have from similar altitude on the St Marys
Range was best catch. 

We camped the night near Lake Pukaki in shrubland and trapped 74 moth
species. Significant finds were the small caddis Oecetis iti (new for me),
the rare Izatha psychra (maybe 2nd & 3rd ever collected), and Pseudocoremia
colpogramma. Next night we camped at Temple Stream at the head of Lake Ohau
and collected boulder coppers and got 58 moth species at trap. Next day we
had the privilege to meet up with Oliver Flint and John Ward. Oliver is a
world renown trichopterist from Washington DC and associated with the
Smithsonian Institute. 

Light trapped at Leith Valley, Dunedin, next and got 66 species of which
two species were new or rare locally for me. I have only found Scoparia
pongalis once before locally and Ischalis gallaria, despite being
relatively common and being described from the Dunedin area is a new record
for my Dunedin list. 

Simon Morris joined me for a trip to Mt Nimrod in South Canterbury on 10-11
February. We got permission to use a good track that took us to highest
point at 1525m. 20 lepidoptera and lots of insects of other orders were
collected by day and 54 moth species by night at 1135m camp site.
Significant finds were the speargrass weevil Lyperobius huttoni at its
southern limit, common on Aciphylla aurea. Moths included Notoreas
ischnocyma, Orocrambus dicrenellus, Gelophaula praecipitalis, Asaphodes
undescribed in helias group, what could be a new Tingena, T. paratrimma,
Kiwaia monophragma and Paranotoreas ferox. Also we got the rare caddis
Edpercivalia oriens and Hydrobiosis sherleyi. 

Mid-February saw us exploring the Mt Cook area based in a DoC house at the
Hermitage. Perfect summer weather at last ! we climbed to 1850m at Mueller
hut....a huge effort in still hot weather, but the thought of Butler's
ringlet spurred us on. Hamish had his first ever Erebiola butleri at 1300m
by Sealy Tarns! I got Notoreas blax, N. ischnocyma, Dasyuris micropolis,
Orocrambus clarkei and Black butterflies too. A great and satisfying day,
although Christine & I were suffering the next day! A gentle walk around
the Tasman Glacier was all we could manage. I had light trapped up the 4WD
track by the Tasman Glacier on the Saturday night and got 73 moth species
and lots of caddis. Further specimens of a new Helastia were perhaps the
best find. 
Late February and it was time to return to the Black Forest Road. Two night
camped beside Lake Benmore in an idyllic setting gave access to interesting
shrublands and streams. The first night yielded 95 moth species...these dry
eastern shrublands really are our richest sites for moths! Thanks to Graeme
White I recognised my first Helastia scissa amongst 160 H. corcularia
adults! I got two of this cryptic species. Also significant was the finding
of only my 2nd, 3rd and 4th specimens of a probably undescribed Hetercrossa
which I have previously found associated with Aristotelia fruticosa at
Mason Bay, Stewart Island (larvae + adults). Aletia nobilia, Tatosoma
agrionata, Pseudocoremia n.sp.(Olearia) and undescribed Pasiphila &
Dichromodes species were good finds too. 

The next night we trapped higher up beside a nice stream at 660m. What a
night! 102 moth species came in in huge numbers with significant caddis
too. Seven Helastia species rained in amongst them 17 H. scissa and only 5
H. corcularia, also H.triphragma and an additional specimen of a new
species only known from Takitimu Mountains. Ten adults of Epiphryne
xanthaspis were a surprise as I'd never seen it in the drier eastern areas
before although the host A. fruticosa is obvious enough. Two more of the
new Heterocrossa, Bityla sericea (7), Pseudocoremia colpogramma,
Dichromodes n.sp., Glyphipterix erastis, Stenoptilia celidota, together
with the the undescribed Pyrgotis/Stathmopoda/Pasiphila/Pseudocoremia from
Olearia came in in large numbers. 

Graeme's new Gadira, as illustrated by Stephen recently, also came in, and
is a first for me and very distinct. I suspect that it is a diurnal species
as it came in so early in the evening, prior to dark. All'n'all a night to
remember. 

Two nights in the upper Manuherikia Valley in early March were productive
too. Eric & Sandra Edwards accompanied me. At light 60 and 36 moths species
came to light on the 2 nights; among them E. xanthaspis again, Orocrambus
sophistes, Asaphodes ida (near the type locality), A. oraria and four
species of Harmologa (three undescribed). Probable larvae of Asaphodes
chlamydota and a fine weevil were beat and observed by night on Clematis
marata. 

A foray onto Mt St Bathans to 1800m was productive with two Notoreas
species, black butterfly, Stenoptilia lithoxesta, Scoparia caesia and a
good collection of stoners and caddis. 

My season's exploration culminated with a one day trip to Mt Buffalo in the
Victorian Alps last Saturday with Tadao Shimba from Melbourne, who I'd met
earlier in the season at The Hermitage. We had a hot and productive day
exploring on this skifield to 1600m. I've identified 12 butterflies from
our day and also got a few diurnal moths and grasshoppers. The site has
sealed road to 1600m and loverly rich herbfield/shrubland/grassland easily
sampled. Satyrids were dominant. Tadao also showed me a colony of imperial
blue feeding on Acacia on the outskirts of Melbourne attended by ants.
Larvae and pupae had ants running back and forth on them - quite a site. 

Update..the Scythrid I found on Ohau delta is most certainly S. triatma. 
Sorry Nobutoyo...no tiger moth adults seen this season! 
That's all! 
I'm now going to spend time writing up various projects. 
regards 
Brian 


 
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