The pūriri moth is New Zealand’s. BIGGEST moth. A female can grow to up to 15 cm (about as wide as your stretched out hand). Males are a little smaller. Caterpillars start life in the leaf litter and then climb up a tree and make an ‘L’ shaped burrow in the trunk and live there for …
Puriri Moth - Puketi Forest Trust, Northland, New Zealand.
The puriri moth (Anetus virescens) is New Zealand’s largest forest moth, having a wingspan of up to 15 centimetres. As its name indicates, the puriri moth caterpillar lives in puriri trees, but it also favours beech trees, putaputaweta and wineberry.
Puriri moths – an extreme life cycle – Friends of Tawa Bush Reserves
Pūriri moths (Aenetus virescens or pepe tuna) are New Zealand’s largest endemic flying moth. Larvae hatch on the bush floor and feed on fungi. Then they climb tree trunks such as pūriri (hence their name) and burrow into the trunk where they live for several years. Pūriri trees only have a northern distribution in the North Island.
Puriri moth » Manaaki Whenua
Māori name: pepe tuna; mokoroa, ngutara; pungoungou. English name: puriri moth. Scientific name: Aenetus virescens (Doubleday in White and Doubleday) Order: Lepidoptera. Family: Hepialidae. is the largest moth in Aotearoa / New Zealand, and is found only on Te Ika a …
Puriri moth - Aenetus virescens - Interesting Insects - Manaaki …
This endemic moth is found throughout the North Island of New Zealand. It occurs in habitats with dead wood with suitable fungi for its young caterpillars and living host trees in which the larger caterpillars live in tunnels and graze callous tissue.
Puriri - Tāne’s Tree Trust
Puriri is a coastal and lowland tree, found from the far north to about latitude 39° 30’ – Opunaki on the west coast and Mahia Peninsula on the east. It is common on volcanic and similar soils and more scattered elsewhere. Puriri is the only member of the genus Vitex in New Zealand.
Male pūriri moth – Tall broadleaf trees – Te Ara Encyclopedia of …
Pūriri moth caterpillars drill tunnels – shaped like the figure 7 – into young pūriri trees. They also attack other native and introduced trees. The caterpillar lives in the tunnel for five to seven years, eating the fresh bark and callus tissue around its entry hole, before emerging as a winged adult.
Puriri moth (Aenetus virescens) · iNaturalist NZ
The puriri moth (Aenetus virescens) is a moth of the family Hepialidae, endemic to the North Island of New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest moth, with a wingspan of up to 150 mm. It is also called the ghost moth or pepetuna.
Male pūriri moth (2nd of 2) - Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New …
With a wingspan of 15 centimetres in females, the bright green puriri moth is New Zealand’s largest. Males are smaller and have white markings on their forewings, in contrast to the female’s dark brown. The moth is found only in the North Island, …
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Puriri moth - Aenetus virescens. Added: 14 Sep 2012 Updated: 30 Apr 2018. This endemic moth is found throughout the North Island of New Zealand. It occurs in habitats with dead wood with suitable fungi for its young caterpillars and living host trees in which the larger caterpillars live in tu... Kawakawa looper - Cleora scriptaria.