Notoreas hexaleuca

Notoreas hexaleuca is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. This species is endemic to New Zealand.

Taxonomy

This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1914 using material collected at Ben Lomond in November by Alfred Philpott. As Meyrick only had a female specimen to work with, he provisionally placed the species in the genus Dasyuris and named it Dasyuris hexaleuca. After the discovery of a male of the species, Philpott placed the species within the genus Notoreas. George Hudson discussed N. hexaleuca in his book The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Hudson went on to illustrate the species and discuss it further in his supplement to that work published in 1939.
The genus Notoreas was reviewed in 1986 by R. C. Craw and the placement of this species within it was confirmed. However species within the genus Notoreas are currently regarded as being in need of revision. The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.

Description

Meyrick described the species as follows:
N. hexaleuca is similar in appearance to N. isoleuca and N. mechanitis. It can be distinguished from N. isoleuca as it has a less hairy thorax. N. hexaleuca also has visually different curved or straight lines on its forewings giving it a lighter appearance than N. isoleuca. N. hexaleuca can be distinguished from N. mechanitis as it is smaller in size and has longer pectinations on its antennae.

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand. Other than the type locality of Ben Lomond, N. hexaleuca has also been found at Flagstaff hill in Dunedin, at Mount Cook, at Skelmorlie Peak near Lake Te Anau, at Cluden Station near Tarras, in the Kakanui Mountains and at Mount Herbert.

Biology and behaviour

This species is on the wing from November to March.

Habitat and host species

This species prefers open hillside habitat and can be found at elevations of between 300 and 1000 metres. It has also been found in alpine wetland habitat at elevations of between 950 and 1500 metres. Larvae of this species have been found to feed on Kelleria species and in particular Kelleria paludosa.