Abstract A second Cretaceous insect fossil known from New Zealand-the apical part of a sclerite from the abdomen of an adult lepidopterous insect-from Rakaia Gorge, Canterbury, is described. The fragment is interpreted as the broken off, apical part of the sacculus free arm of one of the paired valvae of the male genitalia of a species of Lepidoptera. Its affinities possibly lie with the subfamily Larentiinae of the family Geometridae and possibly with the genus Helastia Guenée.
Keywords Cretaceous; fossil insect; Lepidoptera; New Zealand; palaeontology
R01018 Received 20 August 2001; accepted 3 January 2002; published 27 September
2002
©Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 32, Number
3, September 2002, pp 457-462
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