Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Micropterigidae Scientific name Micropardalis doroxena | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Micropardalis Rank Species | |
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Micropardalis doroxena is a species of moth belonging to the family Micropterigidae. It was described by Edward Meyrick in 1888. It is endemic to the North Island of New Zealand.
Adults have a black wing margin decorated with shining silver spots and various diagonal bands. It is thought to represent a face-on view of a jumping spider. Instead of waiting motionlessly, it is thought the spider would be tempted to signal to an image of another spider, thus allowing the moth to escape predation.
Original Description
Female wingspan 11 mm. Head and palpi light ochreous, sides of crown brown. Antennae dark fuscous, annulated with whitish-ochreous. Thorax ochreous-brown. Abdomen dark grey. Legs dark grey, ringed with pale ochreous. Forewings oblong, costa abruptly bent near base, thence gently arched, apex round-pointed, hindmargin straight, very oblique; neuration quite as in P. chalcophanes, but 7 and 8 separate; pale shining golden; two rather narrow oblique coppery-bronze fasciæ from costa near base and at ⅓, confluent on inner margin before middle; a straight rather narrow whitish-purplish fascia, margined with coppery-bronze, from middle of costa to inner margin beyond middle; a whitish-purplish black-margined transverse spot from costa at ⅔, reaching half across wing; a black semi-annular mark, its extremities touching costa at ⅘ and apex, marked with three shining whitish-purplish spots, and including a spot of ground-colour which contains a black costal dot; a semi-oval black anal blotch, not marginal except at extremities, containing three shining whitish-purplish spots near lower edge, and one in a small projection on upper edge: cilia pale golden, with blackish apical, median, and anal spots. Hindwings dark purple-grey; cilia grey.
Auckland (Waitakere Ranges), in December. One specimen amongst the kauri forest. This species is very interesting from the strong tendency of the markings to approach those of Glyphipteryx.