Platyptilia hokowhitalis explained

Platyptilia hokowhitalis is a species of moth in the family Pterophoridae. This species is endemic to New Zealand. This species has been classified as Data Deficient by the Department of Conservation.

Taxonomy

This species was originally described and illustrated by George Hudson in 1939.^[1] ^[2] He used a specimen collected on 10 November 1889 in Hokowhitu Bush in Palmerston North. Hudson had previously discussed the species in 1928 mistakenly under the name Platyptilia celidota.^[3] The holotype specimen is held at the Museum of New Zealand, Te Papa Tongarewa.

Hudson described the species as follows:

This species is endemic to New Zealand.^[4] ^[5] The range of this species includes the Wellington, Whanganui and Taranaki areas.^[6] It has been found at Meremere Bush.

The holotype of this species was captured in forest habitat. This type locality is now a suburb of Palmerston North.

Larvae of this species have been reared from a shrubby Euphrasia.

This species has been classified as having the "Data Deficient" conservation status under the New Zealand Threat Classification System.^[7]

Book: A supplement to the butterflies and moths of New Zealand.. Hudson. G. V.. 1939. Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. Wellington. 430. 221041540. George Hudson (entomologist). 3 June 2018.
Dugdale. J. S.. 1988. Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa. Fauna of New Zealand. 14. 1–269. 3 June 2018. 0477025188. 22 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190722101744/https://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/26324/FNZ14Dugdale1988.pdf. dead.
Book: Hudson, G. V.. The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Ferguson & Osborn Ltd.. 1928. Wellington. 209. 25449322. George Hudson (entomologist).
Web site: Platyptilia hokowhitalis Hudson, 1939. www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. 2018-06-03.
457.
Patrick. B. H.. Dugdale.. J. S.. 2000. Conservation status of the New Zealand Lepidoptera. Science for Conservation. 136. 29. 0478218672. 1173-2946. Department of Conservation. 2018-06-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20170501193054/http://doc.org.nz/Documents/science-and-technical/sfc136.pdf. 2017-05-01. dead.
Hoare. R.J.B.. Dugdale. J.S.. Edwards. E.D.. Gibbs. G.W.. Patrick. B.H.. Hitchmough. R.A.. Rolfe. J.R.. 2017. Conservation status of New Zealand butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), 2015. New Zealand Threat Classification Series. 20. 5.