About Eudonia octophora Meyrick, 1885
This species, Eudonia octophora, was originally described by Meyrick as follows. For both male and female individuals, the wingspan measures 22-24 mm. The head and thorax are brownish-ochreous, with the shoulders speckled with dark fuscous. The palpi are 3 and a half times the length of the head, dark fuscous, mixed with white on the upper surface, and the basal joint is white. The antennae are fuscous, with ciliations half the length of the antenna segment. The abdomen is ochreous-whitish. The legs are whitish-ochreous, with the anterior pair suffused with dark fuscous. The forewings are fairly elongate and triangular, with a slightly arched costa, a round-pointed apex, and a slightly sinuate, rather oblique hind margin; their ground colour is brownish-ochreous, more or less speckled with dark fuscous which generally forms dark lines along the veins, and a few white scales are also present; the first wavy line is obscurely pale, with an indistinct dark margin on its posterior side, curved, indented, and barely oblique; the orbicular and claviform markings are suffused, dark fuscous, and generally obscure; the reniform marking is 8-shaped, with a somewhat blackish margin, the upper half is ochreous, and the lower half is white; the second line is whitish, distinct, dark-margined, and moderately curved across its middle; a row of black spots runs along the hind margin; the cilia are ochreous-whitish, marked with two dark grey lines. The hindwings have a width-to-length ratio of 1 and 2 fifths, are ochreous-grey-whitish, with the postmedian line and apex obscurely greyer; the cilia are ochreous-white, with a faint grey line. Eudonia octophora is recognizable by its brownish-ochreous ground colour and well-defined 8-shaped reniform marking with a white lower half. This species is endemic to New Zealand, and has been observed in the North Island, South Island, and Chatham Islands. It inhabits wetlands that contain rushes, and its larval host plants are species in the genus Juncus.
