Moths of Riccarton Bush

22 Denise Ford

I am a postgraduate student at Lincoln University with a strong interest in native invertebrate communities within urban settings. I am embarking on a project to collect information on Lepidoptera in Riccarton Bush. Riccarton Bush has 27 families of Lepidoptera and my particular interest is in the family Geometridae (looper moths), focusing on 20 species from this family.

Riccarton Bush in the suburb of Riccarton, Christchurch is a small remnant (7.8 ha) of what was once extensive lowland floodplain forest on the Canterbury Plains. When the Pilgrims arrived in 1850 they found forests that had already been greatly depleted by flood and fire. By 1860 little remained of these forests, with the majority of trees having been felled for timber. Through the wishes and actions of the Deans family, the area we now know as Riccarton Bush was preserved. In 1914, the family gifted 6.4 ha of the Bush to the people of Christchurch with one of the conditions being, “That the property be named ‘Riccarton Bush’ and be used and kept for all time for the preservation and cultivation of trees and plants indigenous to New Zealand”. In 1947, the remaining forest (1.4 ha), Riccarton House and its gardens were purchased by the Christchurch City Council.

Riccarton Bush has played an important role in the history of New Zealand entomology. A number of native insects were first collected and named from Riccarton Bush. Over the last 150 years, many famous entomologists have studied the insects and spiders of Riccarton Bush. The Lepidoptera have been particularly well studied; of the families found in New Zealand, 70% have been collected in the Bush. One of the first collections was of a plume moth, Pterophorus monospilalis, in 1859 which is now in the Fereday collection held in the Canterbury Museum.

For my list of moths I have gathered information from chapter 19 “Moths and Butterflies” in Riccarton Bush: Putaringamotu edited by Brian

The Weta 45:22-24 23 Molloy. Specimens of each species were found in the Lincoln University Entomology Research Museum. For each species a photo was taken of a specimen collected from Riccarton Bush (if available) and wingspan and coloration were noted (Fig. 1). Comprehensive information was found on four of the species in the book Butterflies and Common Moths of New Zealand by D E Gaskin, published in 1966. The later publication New Zealand Tussock Moths by E G White (2002) was also useful.

The aim of this project is to place the information collected on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org); a web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopaedia project. Wikipedia is freely available to all web users giving a large potential audience. Having this information available in an easily accessible and updatable medium, such as the internet, allows development of a broad picture of biodiversity in habitats such as Riccarton Bush. The collection and sharing of knowledge by citizen scientists and science professionals has been successfully employed in Eric Spurr’s (Landcare) yearly Garden Bird Survey and Kaupapa Kereru. Valuable observations are being recorded by the public. Web based communities such as NatureWatch NZ (www.naturewatch.org.nz) enable individuals to record their observations of nature and upload photos for others to see and identify the specimens if need be. Since a major update of the NatureWatch NZ website in 2012 over 20,000 observations have been recorded; many of these being insects and spiders. NatureWatch NZ displays information from Wikipedia about each species and higher taxon. Through this development of a broader picture of biodiversity I hope more people can appreciate the wonderful intricacies of nature that exist as close as their own backyard. Much information I am sure is in notebooks and people’s heads so I invite others, professional and amateur entomologists alike, to also contribute to this “Moths of Riccarton Bush” project. Information can be sent to directly to me via email at [email protected] or the Wikipedia pages themselves can be edited directly.

A list of the moths and links to each page can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moths_of_Riccarton_Bush. This page of course can be updated and more moths added.

24 Denise Ford

Fig.1. Specimens of moths collected at Riccarton Bush held at the Lincoln University Entomology Research Museum. On the left is Austrocidaria similata and on the right Pseudocoremia suavis.

References Gaskin DE 1966 The Butterflies and Common Moths of New Zealand. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. Molloy B (Ed.). 1995 Riccarton Bush: Putaringamotu. Christchurch: The Caxton Press. White EG 2002 New Zealand Tussock Grassland Moths. Christchurch: Manaaki Whenua Press List of Geometridae and Wikipedia Links 1. Asaphodes aegrota –http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asaphodes_aegrota 2. Austrocidaria similata – http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrocidaria_similata 3. Chalastra s.l.ochre – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalastra_ochre 4. Chloroclystis filata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chloroclystis_filata 5. Cleora scriptaria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleora_scriptaria 6. Declana floccosa – http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Declana_floccosa 7. Declana niveata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declana_niveata 8. Epiphryne undosata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphryne_undosata 9. Epiphryne verriculata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphryne_verriculata 10. Epyaxa rosearia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epyaxa_rosearia 11. Gellonia dejectaria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gellonia_dejectaria 12. Helastia cineraria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helastia_cineraria 13. Homodotis megaspilata – http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Homodotis_megaspilata 14. Orthoclydon praefactata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthoclydon_praefactata 15. Pseudocoremia fenerata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudocoremia_fenerata 16. Pseudocoremia suavis – http://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Pseudocoremia_suavis 17. Sestra humeraria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sestra_humeraria 18. Xanthorrhoe semifissata – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanthorrhoe_semifissata 19. Xyridacma alectoraria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyridacma_alectoraria 20. Xyridacma ustaria – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyridacma_ustaria