Critically endangered moth identified in Flora

A moth so rare that it does not have a common name has been discovered by chance in the Kahurangi’s Flora area.

Friends of Flora volunteers Sandy and Robin Toy were doing butterfly monitoring on Christmas Eve, when Robin noticed a beautiful pale moth on a grass frond. He took a photograph, and it was later identified as Orthoclydon pseudostinaria by the iNaturalist community, a social network and online database that provides biodiversity information.

The moth is critically endangered, which places it one step away from extinction.  It was first identified under a different name by British-born New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson in 1918, but there have been few records of it since.  The first collection was at Otira, just north of Arthur’s Pass, with subsequent findings in Nelson and Canterbury.

“Because it’s so scarce, very little is known about it,” Sandy says.

“This is as threatened as the kakapo and also the Mt Arthur giant wētā which also occurs in the Flora.”

She says the find once again shows that the Flora area of Kahurangi National Park is a real biodiversity hotspot.

“It also demonstrates the value of photographing unusual looking plants and critters and posting them on iNaturalist – you never know what’s going to turn up.”

A social media post by Friends of Flora called the moth “another treasure in the Flora jewel box”. “Let’s hope we can care for it.”