OECOPHORIDAE ⁴

Tingena actinias (Meyrick, 1901). F.L. 7 mm. Endemic.

This is a peculiarly difficult genus which urgently needs revising.

Habitat, seasonality and behaviour ⁴

The perfect insect appears from October to February in native forest. Hudson (1928) states "It can be found resting on tree trunks, or fences, and when disturbed will fall to the ground, where it either lies on its back with closed wings, or hides itself".

Similar species ⁴

There are several yellow species which are very similar to T. armigerella, but it seems to differ from most of these in the scattering of dark scales over the yellow ground-colour. Records of T. armigerella from the South Island are likely to be due (in large part) to misidentification of other yellow species (Hoare, 2014).

Sources and Credits

1. (c) Aalbert Rebergen, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Aalbert Rebergen
2. (c) William Brockelsby, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tingena_actinias_114487665.jpg
3. (c) Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research , some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tingena_actinias_lectotype.jpg
4. (c) Tony Steer, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)

More Info

• iNaturalist NZ taxon page
• Animal Diversity Web
• Biodiversity Heritage Library
• BOLD Systems BIN search
• CUIC Insect Images
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)
• HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants

iNaturalist NZ Map