[Taxacom] Thinnest caterpillar?

[Donat Agosti]

Beware though, that for the AU$40 for the article for those not in an
academic institution you do not get to see any caterpillar image but two
color images of the imago and an egg.

Would be helpful if the public could get access to the research data itself,
for example through a creative common's open access licence. This certainly
would contribute for a better appreciation of science, and would help many
of the amateur entomologists as well.


Donat Agosti


-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] On Behalf Of Nieukerken, E.J.
van
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 9:04 AM
To: releech at telusplanet.net; Taxacom
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Thinnest caterpillar?

See also the online publication at
http://www.publish.csiro.au/nid/120/paper/IS06009.htm with many pictures
Erik van Nieukerken

-----Original Message-----
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
[mailto:taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu]On Behalf Of
releech at telusplanet.net
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 4:32 AM
To: g.read at niwa.co.nz
Cc: Taxacom
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Thinnest caterpillar?

A picture would be really nice, even if you have
to send it individually to those who request it.
Robin Leech

Quoting Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.co.nz>:

> Passing on a local news story for a quiet day on Taxacom. Actually sub 1
> mm doesn't seem that unusual, at least to me (an annelid biologist), but
> the actual width is not stated. The species has a precarious outlook by
> the look of it.
>
>   Rare skinny caterpillar named after Houdini
>
> Wellington, Oct 19; NZ Press Association
>
> Discovered in 2003 by Landcare Research scientist Corrine Watts,
> Houdinia flexilissima (aka Fred the Thread) lives inside the narrow
> stems of the endangered wetland plant, Sporadanthus ferrugineus
>
> A rare, ultra-thin caterpillar which lives insides plant stems, and had
> escaped scientific discovery until 2003, has been named after the
> magician Harry Houdini.
>
> Hamilton Landcare Research scientist Corrine Watts first discovered the
> skinny orange caterpillar in Waikato in 2003, and nicknamed it Fred the
> Thread.
>
> After further investigation, Dr Watts and colleague Robert Hoare
> realised Fred was the caterpillar which turned into a type of moth which
> had been a mystery to scientists until then.
>
> Fred is thinner than 1mm, and lives inside the narrow stems of the
> endangered rush-like plant Sporadanthus ferrugineus, which is found only
> in three North Island wetlands.
>
> In full, the species' new name is Houdinia flexilissima.
>
> The first part of the name is a nod to the incredible escape performed
> by the adult moth, after it has pupated inside the tight confines of its
> host plant.
>
> Flexilissima means "pliable" or "very flexible".
>
> Dr Hoare believed the newly discovered caterpillar might be the world's
> thinnest.
>
> Two of the wetlands in Waikato where Fred lived were protected, while
> one, at Taihape, was being mined for peat, Dr Watts said.
>
> Gamman Mining, which operates there, had been incredibly supportive of
> ecological work in the area, and had put significant amounts on money
> into restoring mined areas, she said.
>
> However in future the land could be redeveloped into farmland.
>
> Dr Watts said it would be a shame to lose the habitat of the highly
> evolved Houdinia moth, which had an incredibly specialised relationship
> with its host plant.
>
> Citation:
> The world's thinnest caterpillar? A new genus and species of
> Batrachedridae (Lepidoptera) from Sporadanthus ferrugineus
> (Restionaceae), a threatened New Zealand plant.  Robert Hoare, John
> Dugdale, Corinne Watts.  Invertebrate Systematics 20(5) 571-583
>
> --
>    Geoff Read <g.read at niwa.co.nz>
>     http://www.annelida.net/
>
>
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>





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