Tingena melinella is a species of moth in the family Oecophoridae.[2] It is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in Nelson and Canterbury.

Tingena melinella
Male holotype
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Oecophoridae
Genus:	Tingena
Species:	T. melinella
Binomial name
Tingena melinella (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875)[1]
Synonyms[2]
Oecophora melinella Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875 Borkhausenia melinella (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) Borkhausenia freta Philpott, 1926

Taxonomy

This species was first described by Felder & Rogenhofer in 1875 and named Oecophora melinella.[3] Felder & Rogenhofer used a specimen collected by T. R. Oxley in Nelson.[2] George Hudson did not mention this species in his book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand.[2] However he did discuss the subsequently synonymised species Borkhausenia freta.[4] In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the genus Tingena. In the same publication Dugdale synonymised Borkhausenia freta with T. melinella.[2] The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.[2]

Description

Hudson, describing the species B. freta, since synonymised with T. melinella, as follows:

The expansion of the wings is slightly under 5⁄8 inch … has the head, anterior portions of thorax and extreme base of costa, blackish-brown; the fore-wings are also deeper yellow.[4]

Distribution

This species is endemic to New Zealand.[1] It has been observed in Nelson and in Canterbury.[2][5][6]

References

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