Helastia cinerearia
Helastia cinerearia is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the North, South and Stewart Islands as well as on the Mercury and Chatham Islands. The preferred habitat of H. cinerearia includes urban gardens, various types of forest and sub alpine habitats. The larval host is lichen on rocks. The adult moths are on the wing all year round but are most commonly observed from September until February. Adult moths are nocturnal and have been observed feeding from and likely pollinating Hebe salicifolia, Hoheria lyallii and Leptospermum scoparium.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Edward Doubleday in 1843 and named Cidaria cinerearia. George Hudson illustrated and discussed this species under the name Xanthorhoe cinerearia in 1928 in his book The moths and butterflies of New Zealand. In 1939 Louis Beethoven Prout placed this species in the genus Larentia. In 1971 J. S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Helastia and went on to confirm this placement in his 1988 publication Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Robin C. Craw when revising the Helastia genus discussed this species in 1987. The male lectotype specimen collected by Andrew Sinclair in Auckland is held at the Natural History Museum, London.Description
This species was described by Edward Doubleday as follows:H. cinerearia is often confused with H. alba, H. christinae, H. mutabilis, and H. semisignata.