Asterivora exocha
Encyclopedia
Asterivora exocha is a moth
of the Choreutidae
family. It is known from New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is about 20 mm. The head, palpi and thorax are grey-whitish mixed with blackish. The antennae are pale grey, ringed with blackish. The abdomen is fuscous, although the segmental margins are mixed with whitish. The olive-fuscous forewings are elongate, moderate, posteriorly rather dilated, the costa gently arched, the apex obtuse, the termen faintly sinuate and oblique. The basal area is irrorated with whitish except a narrow fascia preceding the first line, which is whitish, acutely angulated the near costa and followed by a very irregular fascia of whitish irroration, which sends a triangular projection above the middle to the centre of the disc. The second line is also white, but sharply defined, running from the middle of the costa to three-fourth of the disc, and then acutely angulated to beyond the middle of the dorsum, somewhat sinuate inwards towards the costa and dorsum. The hindwings are grey, but darker posteriorly. There are indications of a cloudy whitish dot towards the termen below the middle.
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
of the Choreutidae
Choreutidae
Choreutidae, or "metalmark moths," are a family of insects in the lepidopteran order whose relationships have been long disputed. It was placed previously in the superfamily Yponomeutoidea in family Glyphipterigidae and in superfamily Sesioidea. It is now considered to represent its own superfamily...
family. It is known from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The wingspan
Wingspan
The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...
is about 20 mm. The head, palpi and thorax are grey-whitish mixed with blackish. The antennae are pale grey, ringed with blackish. The abdomen is fuscous, although the segmental margins are mixed with whitish. The olive-fuscous forewings are elongate, moderate, posteriorly rather dilated, the costa gently arched, the apex obtuse, the termen faintly sinuate and oblique. The basal area is irrorated with whitish except a narrow fascia preceding the first line, which is whitish, acutely angulated the near costa and followed by a very irregular fascia of whitish irroration, which sends a triangular projection above the middle to the centre of the disc. The second line is also white, but sharply defined, running from the middle of the costa to three-fourth of the disc, and then acutely angulated to beyond the middle of the dorsum, somewhat sinuate inwards towards the costa and dorsum. The hindwings are grey, but darker posteriorly. There are indications of a cloudy whitish dot towards the termen below the middle.