Pasiphila charybdis
species of moth endemic to New Zealand
Pasiphila charybdis is a species of moth in the family Geometridae. It was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1879. This species is endemic to New Zealand and has been observed in the southern parts of the South Island. The larvae feed on Veronica species and adults are on the wing in December.
Taxonomy
This species was first described by Arthur Gardiner Butler in 1879 and named Helastia charybdis using specimens collected by F. W. Hutton in Dunedin. In 1879, thinking he was describing a new species, Butler also named this species Helastia calida. George Hudson, also thinking he was describing a new species, named it Chloroclystis antarctica in 1898. In 1917 Meyrick placed this species within the genus Chloroclystis and synonymised Helastia calida with it. Hudson discussed Chloroclystis charybdis in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand but said he was unacquainted with the species. In 1971 John S. Dugdale placed this species in the genus Pasiphila.
“Pasiphila charybdis” enters the record as species of moth endemic to New Zealand. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Pasiphila, charybdis and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Pasiphila charybdis” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Pasiphila, charybdis and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q13879044. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1879, 1898, 1917 and 1928.
Scientific names, classifications and consensus can change while older terminology persists in catalogues and historical literature. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Pasiphila charybdis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.