About Ichneutica mutans
Scientific name: Ichneutica mutans. George Hudson described the larvae of this species as rather stout, with wrinkled anterior segments. Larvae vary widely in colour: the dorsal surface is usually reddish-brown, the lateral line is broad and black, a series of subdorsal stripes are also black, and the ventral surface is green. In some forms, these markings are barely visible and the entire larva is green, while in other forms brown colouring is dominant. In his original description of I. mutans, Walker described the adult of the species as follows: Both male and female adults are pale cinereous. The third joint of the palpi is cylindrical, and measures at least one-third the length of the second joint. Male antennae are minutely ciliated. The thorax has a black curved band at its front. Fore wings have black marks along the costa; most of the wing disk is clouded with fawn-colour and blackish gray. Almost all wing lines are obsolete, except the submarginal line, which is distinct, whitish, slightly undulating, bordered on each side by black and brown, and interrupted by the black veins. There is a black discal stripe that dilates towards its tip, and is widely interrupted by the space that contains the black-bordered claviform spot. The orbicular and reniform spots are distinct, partially bordered with black; the orbicular spot is oblique, and is a little more than half the size of the reniform spot. Hind wings are cinereous, with whitish ciliae. A variety of the species has fore wings with barely clouded disks, and the black stripe is obsolete except at each end. Body length ranges from 6 to 7 lines, and wing length ranges from 14 to 16 lines. I. mutans is a variable species, and as a result it can be confused with I. averilla, I. petrograpta, and I. bromias, even though I. bromias is not found in the same geographic area as I. mutans. This species is endemic to New Zealand. It can be found throughout New Zealand, from the Three Kings Islands down to Stewart Island, but it is not present in the Chatham Islands. I. mutans is well-adapted to live in a wide range of native and modified habitats.
