Sabatinca aemula is a species of moth

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...

 belonging to the family Micropterigidae

Micropterigidae

Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about 20 living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of Lepidoptera ....

. It was described by Philpott in 1924. It is known from the Mount Arthur tableland in 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...

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Adults were found in December among rough herbage and undergrowth at a damp spot on the edge of the forest.

Original description

Wingspan 11–12 mm. Head and thorax reddish-ochreous. Palpi ochreous. Antennae dark fuscous, basal fifth (in female basal third) ochreous. Abdomen greyish-fuscous. Legs ochreous, last tarsal segments fuscous. Forewings ovate-lanceolate, costa strongly arched basally, apex acute, termen very oblique, slightly sinuate; shining ochreous, darker on apical half and above dorsum at base; a silvery-white fascia from costa at middle; irregular and variable in shape, sometimes spot-like, sometimes reaching middle of wing where it touches an irregular black spot; a similar but usually broader fascia at 3/4, also connecting with a black (generally transverse) spot; sometimes a silvery-white dot or dots between second fascia and apex; a series of silvery-white spots round termen: fringes reddish-ochreous with a very obscure dark basal line. Hindwings fuscous-violet: fringes, fuscous on basal half of dorsum, ochreous with a fuscous basal line on remainder of wing.