Acrocercops leucocyma, also known as the kauri leafminer, is a species of moth in the family Gracillariidae. It is endemic to New Zealand.
| Acrocercops leucocyma | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Gracillariidae |
| Genus: | Acrocercops |
| Species: | A. leucocyma
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| Binomial name | |
| Acrocercops leucocyma | |
| Synonyms | |
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Taxonomy edit
This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1889 using a specimen he collected in the Waitakere Range in Auckland and named Gracilaria leucocyma.[2] George Hudson discussed this species under the name Parectopa laucocyma in his 1928 publication The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand.[3] The specimen collected by Meyrick was the only recorded specimen until this species was rediscovered in 1954 by K. A. J. Wise.[4] In 1961 Lajos Vári restricted the genus Parectopa to Holarctic species which do not have genital characteristics that resemble New Zealand species. As a result, John S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Acrocercops.[5] However the genus level classification of Acrocercops leucocyma is regarded as unsatisfactory and as such the species is currently also known as Acrocercops (s.l.) leucocyma.[1][6] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[5]
Description edit
Meyrick described this species as follows:
♀︎. 9mm. Head and palpi white. Antennae fuscous, beneath white. Thorax light grey. Abdomen whitish. Legs dark grey, ringed with white, posterior tibiae white. Fore-wings elongate, very narrow, pointed ; grey ; markings snow-white ; a rather broad irregular streak along inner margin from base to apex, interrupted before middle by a very oblique indistinct line of ground-colour ; eight short more or less wedge-shaped streaks from costa, first from 1⁄4, slenderly produced on costa towards base, first four outwardly oblique, remainder inwardly oblique, second and fourth reaching half across wing, the rest much shorter ; a small irregular blackish apical dot, preceded by a white dot : cilia ochreous-grey-whitish, round apex whiter, with indications of two dark fuscous lines. Hindwings whitish-grey ; cilia ochreous-grey-whitish.[2]
Distribution edit
Biology and life cycle edit
The adult moths of this species are on the wing in spring and summer.[8]
Habitat and host species edit
The larvae feed on Agathis australis. They mine the leaves of their host plant.[8]
References edit
- ^ a b c "Acrocercops leucocyma (Meyrick, 1889)". www.nzor.org.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 2018-06-18.
- ^ a b Meyrick, Edward (1889). "Descriptions of New Zealand Micro-Lepidoptera". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 21: 154–188 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ Hudson, G. V. (1928). The Butterflies and Moths of New Zealand. Wellington: Ferguson & Osborn Ltd. p. 322. OCLC 25449322.
- ^ Wise, K. A. J. (1962). "Parectopa leucocyma (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) rediscovered as a leafminer of kauri (Agathis australis Salisb.)". Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Zoology. 1: 373–375.
- ^ a b Dugdale, J. S. (1988). "Lepidoptera - annotated catalogue, and keys to family-group taxa" (PDF). Fauna of New Zealand. 14: 1–269. ISBN 0477025188. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
- ^ Robert J. B. Hoare; Brian H Patrick; Thomas R. Buckley (22 July 2019). "A new leaf-mining moth from New Zealand, Sabulopteryx botanica sp. nov. (Lepidoptera, Gracillariidae, Gracillariinae), feeding on the rare endemic shrub Teucrium parvifolium (Lamiaceae), with a revised checklist of New Zealand Gracillariidae". ZooKeys. 865 (865): 39–65. doi:10.3897/ZOOKEYS.865.34265. ISSN 1313-2989. PMC 6663935. PMID 31379443. Wikidata Q70104394.
- ^ Gordon, Dennis P., ed. (2010). New Zealand inventory of biodiversity: Kingdom animalia: chaetognatha, ecdysozoa, ichnofossils. Vol. 2. p. 460. ISBN 978-1-877257-93-3. OCLC 973607714. OL 25288394M. Wikidata Q45922947.
- ^ a b Martin, N. A. "Kauri leafminer - Acrocercops leucocyma". www.nzacfactsheets.landcareresearch.co.nz. Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
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