Proteodes melographa

This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1927 using a specimen collected at Mount Arthur at 4000 ft in January by Selwyn Woodward.[3] In 1936 Meyrick synonymised Proteodes varia with P. melographa.[4] The male holotype specimen is held in the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Illustration of P. melographa by George Hudson

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂ 21 mm. Head white, a dark fuscous bar on face. Palpi white suffusedly mixed dark grey. Thorax white, patagia suffused dark grey except tips. Forewings moderate, posteriorly dilated, termen straight, rather oblique; white, irregularly sprinkled grey, unevenly strewn with blackish or dark brown dots, tending to form longitudinal or transverse series; some ferruginous suffusion towards base of costa; a small dark fuscous spot on costa at ⅓, whence a fine rather curved dark fuscous stria runs to dorsum, adjoining this posteriorly a suffused feruginous spot in disc and some grey marbling towards dorsum; a transverse brown-whitish mark on end of cell edged anteriorly with a few black scales, and posteriorly with dark grey suffusion, beyond this a transverse fascia, of grey marbling obscurely interrupted below middle, becoming darker and broader towards costa, on which it forms three or four small spots; some slight brownish suffusion near termen; a terminal series of blackish marks; cilia grey-whitish, base barred white, a dark grey subbasal and pale grey postmedian line. Hindwings whitish-grey; a light grey spot on end of cell; cilia whitish, basal half faintly barred greyish.[3]

This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the Nelson/Tasman districts.[1][5]

This species is on the wing in January.[3][5]

The species can be found in alpine habitats at the limit of forest growth.[5] The larvae of this moth feeds on native beech trees.[6]