Automated system for recording emerging puriri moths, Aenetus virescens (Hepialidae: Lepidoptera)

Abstract

The puriri moth, Aenetus virescens (Doubleday, 1843) is a widespread forest species in the North Island of New Zealand. Eggs are deposited on the forest floor where early instars feed on fungi growing on dead wood or emergent polypore fruiting bodies, such as bracket fungi, for about three months. They then transition to boring into various trees and shrubs where they feed on callus tissue around the entrance of tunnels that extend into the wood. Larval and pupal development varies from one to four years in putaputaweta (Carpodetus serratus), and may be even longer on other hosts and localities.