Phil Bendle Collection:Nymphostola galactina (Tarata flat moth)

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Oecophoridae
Genus: Nymphostola
Species: N. galactina
Binominal name: Nymphostola galactina
Common name: Tarata Flatmoth, Tarata flat moth

Nymphostola galactina is a rare, native, 15 mm long moth in the family of sickle moths (Oecophoridae). It is a beautiful pearly, white moth with an emerald sheen. It has only been found a few times in the North Island usually December to January. It is nocturnal and is attracted to light.
The larval food is the leaves of Myrtus bullata, Pittosporum tenuifolium and Griselinia lucida. The larvae are tiny and they live on the underside of the leaves under a fine silk web. This moth's larvae are under attack from introduced wasps.

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The moth's underside.
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Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

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