Taxonomy and conservation of allopatric moth populations: a revisionary study of the Notoreas perornata Walker complex (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Larentiinae), with special reference to southern New Zealand

Abstract The Notoreas perornata Walker complex (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) is reviewed. Species concepts applicable to allopatric populations are discussed, with special reference to criteria of diagnosability. Based on a version of the General Lineage Species Concept, five species are recognised here: N. perornata for populations from Northland (North Island) to Westland and the Marlborough coast (South Island), N. simplex Hudson for northern South Island mountain and Canterbury coastal populations; N. elegans Patrick & Hoare, n. sp., for inland Otago, Southland and Fiordland populations, and the coastal Shag Point (Dunedin) population, N. casanova Patrick & Hoare, n. sp., for Southland coastal populations and N. edwardsi Patrick & Hoare, n. sp., for the population at Mason Bay, Stewart Island. Notoreas regilla (Philpott) is newly synonymised with N. simplex. Uppersides and undersides are illustrated for all taxa, and genitalia for N. elegans. No consistent genitalic distinctions have been found between s...