Ichneutica notata

Male lectotype specimen of Ichneutica notata

This species was first described by John T. Salmon in 1946.[2][3][4] Salmon described this species using two specimens, a male collected by Augustus Hamilton at Mount Peel, in the Tasman district in December 1910, and a female specimen Salmon himself had collected at Homer in Fiordland.[4] The male specimen had been previously and incorrectly identified as Ichneutica lata. However, as Hoare points out, the female specimen used by Salmon is a specimen of I. marmorata.[4] With no holotype specimen designated in the original paper by Salmon, Hoare designated the male specimen used by Salmon as the lectotype of this species.[4] This specimen is held in the entomological collections at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[5]

The male lectotype specimen of I. notata was used by George Hudson in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand to describe and depict Ichneutic lata.[6] He described the above specimen as follows:

The expansion of the wings of the male is about 1+5⁄8, ... The antennae of the male are dull orange-brown heavily bepectinated from base to apex. The forewings are dull greyish-green thickly speckled with blackish and ochreous scales, the central area being darker; the basal and first lines are broad, wavy, dull white, edged with blackish; the orbicular is rather small round white with a dusky central dot; the claviform very distinct also whitish; the reniform irregularly oblong, dull white with a dusky central line; the second line is very conspicuous, deeply indented between the veins white edged with blackish; there is a subterminal series of cloudy black spots, followed by a cloudy ochreous band, the cilia are dull greenish-grey barred with blackish. The hind-wings are dull greyish-brown with a cloudy discal lunual; the cilia are also greyish-brown with obscure darker bands.[6]

This species can be distinguished from several species of similar appearance (such as I. eris and I. marmorata) as it has a slight green hue to its forewings.[4] It can be distinguished from the similarly coloured I. cana specimens as these lack the pale elongated spot or mark on the forewings of I. notata.[4] The male of I. notata has a wingspan of between 34 and 41 mm and the female has a wingspan of 47 mm.[4]

I. notata is regarded as being restricted in its distribution and has only been found in the north-west portion of the Tasman District, in the Paparoa Range, in the Rainbow Ski Area, and in the Craigieburn Range.[4]

I. notata prefers hilly alpine habitat.[4]

Little is known about the life history of this species.[4] However pupae have been collected in short grass and pupae have also been reared in bare soil.[4]

The adults of the species are on the wing from late November to early January.[4]