Making moth identification guides

Names are important. They identify who we are and where we come from. But sometimes, names don’t tell the whole story. For example, the Oxford Dictionary defines ‘moth’ as an insect with two pairs of broad wings covered in microscopic scales, typically drably coloured and chiefly nocturnal, but that description doesn’t really fit the cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) pictured here.

Rights: Charles J. Sharp, Creative Commons 4.0

Cinnabar moth

The cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae) is a day-flying moth introduced to New Zealand as a biological control for ragwort.

The cinnabar moth is an introduced species. Its larvae eat ragwort, a noxious weed, so the moths were brought to New Zealand as a biological control. Its common name, cinnabar, refers to its bright red colouration – cinnabar is a bright red mineral once used as a pigment for paint.

Systematic naming

The cinnabar moth’s scientific name is Tyria jacobaeae Linnaeus. For most people, this name is more difficult to pronounce and it is not nearly as descriptive, but for scientists, the name means a lot. Systematic naming ensures that one species has one name, no matter where in the world it is found. This helps to prevent confusion.

Systematic naming also provides information about the lineage. It is a bit like a family tree and shows how the organism is related to other species. People in many cultures, including Māori, have a formal introduction that starts with their own name and then lists back through their parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. In the same way, a species name can be traced back through genus, family, order, class, phylum and kingdom (these steps are called divisions or ranks).

Names for New Zealand moths

When Otago-area schools began working with Dr Barbara Anderson and Dr Robert Hoare on the Ahi Pepe MothNet Participatory Science Platform project, moth names became an important focus. The students were curious to know which moths were living in the Otago region and whether artificial lighting and/or vegetation restoration were impacting local moth populations. Part of the project involved trapping moths for identification and to form reference collections.

Barbara and Robert worked together to create moth identification guides specific to South Island regions. The guides have life-size colour images of moths common in each region. Each moth species is listed in its scientific family grouping, and there are photos of males and females for most species. Believe it or not, each moth image in the guide is the result of many individual images stacked together to produce a single, high-resolution image!

The Ahi Pepe MothNet project recently expanded to include the North Island, and the team has now produced identification guides for the entire country.

Puka Whakamārama o Te Pepe Nui

As the Ahi Pepe MothNet team worked with students from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti, it became obvious that there were very few science resources written specifically for kura. They did not want a translation of the moth identification guide but a resource that told the story from a Māori perspective. Five whakataukī (legends) about moths and their life cycles form the core of te reo Māori guides. The whakataukī provide context and purpose for the project and the science within it.

We moved away from the very western science presentation of facts and methods and instead chose a much more sympathetic weaving together of cultural reference, language, education and science.

Dr Barbara Anderson

Naming moths through a child’s eyes

New Zealand has over 2,000 moth species. Over 90% of them are endemic – meaning they are found here and nowhere else in the world! Although our native moths have scientific names, not many have common names. The tamariki from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti are working to change that. They’ve been giving some of the local moths common names in te reo Māori. For example, they’ve named the Tmetolophota purdii species pākākā. Pākākā means chestnut-coloured or scorched, and this reflects the moth’s chestnut and orange-coloured forewings – the ginger marks on the forewings look like scorch marks. Meanwhile, ātaka, meaning exquisite, gets its Māori common name from its scientific name – Meterana exquisita. Both names fit this moth species well – it has beautifully mottled pale green and black forewings.

Rights: Ahi Pepe MothNet

Ahi Pepe MothNet badges

Tamariki from Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti have given local moths common names in Māori. The common names reflect the moths’ physical features.

Moth images Birgit E. Rhode, Manaaki Whenua — Landcare Research.