The ghost of New Zealand

Abstract

The so-called "ghost moth", also known as the puriri moth, occurs only in native forests of North Island of New Zealand. The species has a most unique life history. The eggs hatch in forest floor litter, transform to caterpillars that then select native understory hardwood trees to crawl up the trunks and burrow into the cambium, creating large cavities they seal up with a membrane. They inhabit the tree cavity for several years, transforming into pupal stages, and eventually emerging as a winged adult. The free-flying adults live for only a few days, to mate and for the females to disperse their eggs, completing the cycle. Their tree cavities can then be used by other forest insect species, so that puriri moths serve the ecological-engineering function of primary cavity excavator in native New Zealand forests, and are the only Lepidopteran species to do such primary cavity-creation in trees. Puriri also moths have important Maori cultural value in local stories, and puriri grubs are used as fish bait or are consumed by Maori peoples. This work results from U.S. Forest Service scientific research collaborations with New Zealand's Crown Forest Research Institute (Scion).

Citation

Marcot, Bruce G. 2025. The ghost of New Zealand. Xerces Society. Wings. 48 (1): 11-15.