Asterivora ministra
Encyclopedia
Asterivora ministra is a moth
of the Choreutidae
family. It is known from New Zealand
.
The wingspan
is about 9 mm. The head is dark fuscous and the face sprinkled with white. The antennae are dark fuscous and the thorax is dark fuscous. The abdomen is also dark fuscous, but the segmental margins are partially white. The dark bronzy-fuscous forewings are suboblong, the costa moderately arched anteriorly, the apex obtuse, the termen slightly rounded and somewhat oblique. There are five very undefined irregular transverse shades of white irroration, the first three are rather curved or bent, the fourth forms a clear white spot on the costa beyond the middle and then a fine silvery quadrangular loop passing behind a transverse linear discal mark of white irroration. The fifth is straight and interrupted above the middle. There are also two or three silvery-metallic scales before the termen above the middle. The hindwings are light fuscous, becoming darker towards the termen.
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 9 mm. The head is dark fuscous and the face sprinkled with white. The antennae are dark fuscous and the thorax is dark fuscous. The abdomen is also dark fuscous, but the segmental margins are partially white. The dark bronzy-fuscous forewings are suboblong, the costa moderately arched anteriorly, the apex obtuse, the termen slightly rounded and somewhat oblique. There are five very undefined irregular transverse shades of white irroration, the first three are rather curved or bent, the fourth forms a clear white spot on the costa beyond the middle and then a fine silvery quadrangular loop passing behind a transverse linear discal mark of white irroration. The fifth is straight and interrupted above the middle. There are also two or three silvery-metallic scales before the termen above the middle. The hindwings are light fuscous, becoming darker towards the termen.