Athrips zophochalca
Athrips zophochalca is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1918 and is endemic to New Zealand. A. zophochalca has been observed in both the North and South Islands as well as at the Poor Knights. The species inhabits scrubby native forest, saline wetlands and braided river habitat. Larvae bore into the terminal shoots of Carmichaelia species. Adults are on the wing from November until March and are sexually dimorphic with the male lacking the white band on the forewings.
Taxonomy
A. zophochalca was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1918 using a specimen collected by George Hudson in Auckland and named Epithectis zophochalca. In 1939 Hudson, thinking he was describing a new species, named it Epithectis transversella. In 1978 Klaus Sattler placed A. zophochalca into the genus Athrips. J. S. Dugdale synonymised that A. transversella into A. zophochalca in 1988. However the placement of this species within the genus Athrips is in doubt. As a result, this species is sometimes referred to as Athrips (s.l.) zophochalca. The male holotype is held at the Natural History Museum, London.Description
Meyrick described the species as follows:Hudson described the female of the species under the name Epithectis transversella as follows:
The adult specimens of this species are sexually dimorphic with the female having a white band of the forewings that the male lacks.