Pterophorus monospilalis, the white plume moth, is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It is endemic to New Zealand and occurs throughout the country. It inhabits native forest, parks and domestic gardens. Larvae are active during the day, are slow moving, and feed exposed. They feed on Pseudopanax species as well as on Hedera helix, Meryta sinclairii, and Schefflera digitata. There are several broods in a year. Adult moths are on the wing from November until May and are attracted to light. Taxonomy This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1864 and named Aciptilus monospilalis. In 1875 Cajetan von Felder and Alois Friedrich Rogenhofer, thinking they were describing a new species, named it Aciptilia patruelis. In 1885 Meyrick synonymised A. patruelis with A. monospilalis. In the same publication Meyrick, thinking he was describing a new species, also named this species as Aciptilia lycosema. Merick described both A. monospilalis and the newly named A. lycosema in greater detail in a later 1885 publication. In 1913 Meyrick placed both A. monospilalis and A. lycosema into the genus Alucita. This placement was followed by George Hudson in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. In the same publication Hudson continued to treated A. lycosema as a separate species. In 1934 A. V. Chappell, while discussing the work Alfred Philpott had undertaken examining the genitalia of both A. monospilalis and A. lycosema, argued that the morphological similarities as well as the life histories of the two were sufficient to show that A. lycosema was a synonym of A. monospilalis. In 1988 John S. Dugdale synonymised the two varieties of the species Aciptilus furcatalis originally described by Walker in his 1864 publication into Pterophorus monospilalis. In 1993 Cees Gielis discussed this species under the name Pterophorus monospilalis but placed it in a list where the species were regarded as having an uncertain status. The male lectotype specimen, collected by D. Bolton in Auckland, is held at the Natural History Museum, London. Description Egg The egg of this species is elliptical shaped and coloured a very pale green with a faint honeycomb pattern on the flattened upper surface. Larva The mature larva was described by Chappell as follows: Pupa The pupa is described by Chappell as being 10 mm long and coloured a very pale green with whitish shades on the wings and ventral portions. There is a noticeable black dorsal