About Pasiphila lunata (Philpott, 1912)
The scientific name of this species is Pasiphila lunata, originally described by Philpott in 1912. Philpott's description of the adult male is as follows: Male specimens measure 18 to 19 mm. The head, palpi, thorax, and abdomen are dark greenish-fuscous. Palpi are 1+1⁄2 times the head length. Antennae are biciliated with long fascicles, with ciliations measuring 3. Forewings are triangular, with an almost straight costa, and a termen that is slightly bowed, and subsinuate on its lower half. The forewings are dark greenish-fuscous, with veins more or less marked with black. All lines on the forewings are obscure. Near the base, there are some faint, thin, waved green lines. The median band is ochreous everywhere except beneath the costa; its anterior edge runs from 1⁄2 to 3⁄5 along the wing, is waved and hardly curved, while its posterior edge runs from 3⁄4 to 4⁄5 along the wing, bluntly projecting at the middle and concave on the lower half. A thin dentate bluish-green subterminal line is present, and cilia are ochreous, barred with fuscous. Hindwings are fuscous, sprinkled with ochreous; veins have alternating black and white dots, and a thin dentate bluish-green subterminal line is also present on the hindwings. Females match the male description except for two features: the median band is almost obsolete, and there is a prominent irregular crescentic white mark in the middle of the forewing, with the open limbs of the crescent directed posteriorly. Hudson noted that Pasiphila lunata is variable in appearance and darker in color than other species in the genus Pasiphila. Pasiphila lunata is endemic to New Zealand, and has been observed in both the North and South Islands. The larvae of this species feed on Veronica species. Philpott recorded that he found Pasiphila lunata larvae on Veronica salicifolia.
