Sestra flexata | |
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Female | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Geometridae |
Genus: | Sestra |
Species: | S. flexata
|
Binomial name | |
Sestra flexata | |
Synonyms [2] | |
|
Sestra flexata, also known as the common fern looper, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. [3] This species is endemic to New Zealand.
S. flexata was first described by Francis Walker in 1862 using specimens collected either in Auckland by D. Bolton. [4] Walker originally named the species Cidaria flexata. [2] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. [5] The male holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [2]
The pale yellow egg is cylindrical in shape. [6] The larva of this species is coloured dark brown and is 25 to 30 mm long when mature. [7] The larvae are approximately 1 to 1+1⁄4 inch long and is a brownish greenish colour with yellow tones underneath. Down its back is a brown line with two more lines down its sides. It also has a few black markings and a number of short bristles. [6]
Walker described the adult of this species as follows:
Female. Cinereous fawn-colour, ochraceous beneath. Palpi slender, very short, obliquely ascending. Abdomen yellowish. Forewings acute, subfalcate, with a blackish shade on nearly half the middle space and along the exterior border, which is distinctly angular. Hind wings yellowish, without markings; fore part of the exterior border slightly truncated. Length of the body 6 lines; of the wings 16 lines. [4]
Hudson described the adults of this species as follows:
The expansion of the wings is from 1+1⁄4 to 1+3⁄8 inches. The fore-wings are pale plum-colour; there is an indistinct, curved, brownish transverse line near the base; a straight dark brown line across the middle, and a curved series of brownish dots beyond the middle; the apex is pointed, and the termen has a strong projection a little above the middle. The hind-wings are ochreous, with a series of minute brownish dots across the middle. [5]
This species is endemic to New Zealand. [1] This species is found throughout New Zealand including the North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands. [6]
The larval hosts of this species are Pteris macilenta and Histiopteris incisa. [7] It has been collected by beating the latter fern. [6]
The older larvae of this species feed at night. [7] When disturbed the larva will drop to the ground. [7] Adults of this species pollinate Leptospermum scoparium. [8] The adult moths are nocturnal, are attracted to light and on the wing from September until March. [7] [6]
{{
citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)
Sestra flexata | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Female | |
![]() | |
Male | |
Scientific classification
![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Geometridae |
Genus: | Sestra |
Species: | S. flexata
|
Binomial name | |
Sestra flexata | |
Synonyms [2] | |
|
Sestra flexata, also known as the common fern looper, is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. [3] This species is endemic to New Zealand.
S. flexata was first described by Francis Walker in 1862 using specimens collected either in Auckland by D. Bolton. [4] Walker originally named the species Cidaria flexata. [2] George Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. [5] The male holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London. [2]
The pale yellow egg is cylindrical in shape. [6] The larva of this species is coloured dark brown and is 25 to 30 mm long when mature. [7] The larvae are approximately 1 to 1+1⁄4 inch long and is a brownish greenish colour with yellow tones underneath. Down its back is a brown line with two more lines down its sides. It also has a few black markings and a number of short bristles. [6]
Walker described the adult of this species as follows:
Female. Cinereous fawn-colour, ochraceous beneath. Palpi slender, very short, obliquely ascending. Abdomen yellowish. Forewings acute, subfalcate, with a blackish shade on nearly half the middle space and along the exterior border, which is distinctly angular. Hind wings yellowish, without markings; fore part of the exterior border slightly truncated. Length of the body 6 lines; of the wings 16 lines. [4]
Hudson described the adults of this species as follows:
The expansion of the wings is from 1+1⁄4 to 1+3⁄8 inches. The fore-wings are pale plum-colour; there is an indistinct, curved, brownish transverse line near the base; a straight dark brown line across the middle, and a curved series of brownish dots beyond the middle; the apex is pointed, and the termen has a strong projection a little above the middle. The hind-wings are ochreous, with a series of minute brownish dots across the middle. [5]
This species is endemic to New Zealand. [1] This species is found throughout New Zealand including the North, South, Stewart and Chatham Islands. [6]
The larval hosts of this species are Pteris macilenta and Histiopteris incisa. [7] It has been collected by beating the latter fern. [6]
The older larvae of this species feed at night. [7] When disturbed the larva will drop to the ground. [7] Adults of this species pollinate Leptospermum scoparium. [8] The adult moths are nocturnal, are attracted to light and on the wing from September until March. [7] [6]
{{
citation}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (
link)