Izatha acmonias
Izatha acmonias is a moth of the family Oecophoridae. It was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1921. This species is endemic to New Zealand, where it is known from the western parts of the South Island. Much of the life history of this species is known however it has been hypothesised that larvae feed on dead Hoheria lyallii. Adults are on the wing from November until January.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Alfred Philpott in 1921. Philpott Hudson discussed and illustrated this species in 1928 in his book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand however Hudson included I. acmonias, I. picarella, and I. lignyarcha in his concept of that species. In 1988 John S. Dugdale, thinking that this species was the same as I. picarellas, synonymised I. acmonias with that species. Robert J. B. Hoare reinstated I. acmonias in 2010. The male holotype specimen, collected in Tisbury by Philpott, is held at the New Zealand Arthropod Collection.Description
As at 2010 the larvae of this species are unknown.The wingspan is 21–28.5 mm for males and 23–35 mm for females.
Philpott described this species as follows:
I. acmonias can be confused with I. katadiktya as the latter species overlaps with the southern part of I. acmonias' range. I. acmonias is also unlikely to be distinguishable on external characteristics from either I. lignyarcha or I. picarellas however the species may be distinguished by the male genital characters as well as by their geographical location.