Common Moths In Nz

From these 2000 species only 17 are butterflies the other 98 are moths.

Common moths in nz. Theirs is a remarkable world of gluttony dramatic transformations mind bending scents and wild sex. We have big moths tiny moths colourful moths and drab moths. Although this species is distributed across the globe they have reported in great abundance in ten european countries twenty seven african countries five island. They are grouped into about 39 superfamilies worldwide of which 16 are represented in new zealand.

Over 90 of new zealands lepidoptera species are endemic found nowhere else in the world. For more information on nz moths see. They spin in awkward orbits about lamps invade our cereal snack on our woollens. While new zealand has 24 species of butterflies the over whelming majority of the lepidoptera order found here is comprised of mothsat.

There are about 2000 types of native new zealand butterflies and moths. Of 120 families 35 occur naturally in new zealand. The greater wax moths were first identified as pests in asia after which their population spread all over new zealand some parts of europe northern america and great britain. Two different species are common in new zealand the webbing clothes moth and the case making clothes moth.

Moths along with butterflies are part of the order lepidoptera from the greek for scaled wings. Two are butterflies and the rest are moths. Moths can be regarded as a domestic inconvenience. Clothes moths eat a wide range of animal fabrics but primarily fabrics containing wool.

Introduced species are included in brackets. Moth and butterfly are common names given to insects of the order lepidoptera. Many of the moth and butterfly species are found in rural forested or alpine regions so they are not commonly. It is estimated that there are over 2000 species of moth in nz.

Image gallery and online guide. Generally clothes moths are more common in the coastal areas of new zealand where the humidity helps their development. More than 90 are found nowhere else this is the highest proportion of unique butterflies and moths in the world. The webbing clothes moth is uniformly buff coloured whereas the case making clothes moth is similar in appearance but has indistinct dark specks on the wings.

Most butterflies and moths have a similar life cycle. Larger moths of new zealand. Clothes moths are small about 1 cm buff coloured moths. This table lists some of the families of moths found in nz with an estimate of the number of nz species.

The case making clothes moth prefers warmer parts of new zealand whereas the webbing clothes moth can be found all over new zealand. Another 68 types have been introduced since european settlement. Common name family notes nz species ghost moths hepialidae ghost moths dont have a mouth.