Aponotoreas villosa explained

Aponotoreas villosa is a moth of the family Geometridae.^[1] It is endemic to New Zealand.^[2]

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Alfred Philpott as Notoreas villosa in 1917.^[3] In 1986 R. C. Craw described the new genus Aponotoreas and included A. villosa within it.

Distribution

The male of this species was first collected in 1910 at The Hump, near Waiau and the female of the species was discovered in 1915 by C. C. Fenwick in the same locality. A. villosa has also been found in the Hunter Mountains.

Habitat

A. villosa inhabits grassland areas up to 1200 metres in altitude.

Life cycle

Adult moths are normally seen between December and February.

External links

• Citizen science observations of species
• Specimens held at the Auckland War Memorial Museum

Notes and References

1. Dugdale. J. S.. Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Fauna of New Zealand. 1988. 14. 170–171. 6 February 2017. 0111-5383. 27 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190127012006/https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/49008/FNZ14Dugdale1988150.pdf. dead.
2. Craw. R. C.. 1986-01-01. Review of the genus Notoreas (sensu auctorum) (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae). New Zealand Journal of Zoology. 13. 1. 131–140. 10.1080/03014223.1986.10422654. 0301-4223. free.
3. Philpott. Alfred. 1917. Descriptions of new species of Lepidoptera. Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. en. 49. 239–247. Biodiversity Heritage Library.