Proteodes smithi

This species was described by George Howes in 1946 using a specimen collected in early January at Homer, Fiordland by T. R. Smith, in whose honour this species is named.[3] The male holotype specimen is held at Te Papa.[2]

Howes described the species as follows:

Wing expanse 31 mm. Head and face uniform golden brown, antennae brown. Palpi prominent, upcurved, basal portions pink, the tips yellow. Thorax and crests warm brown. First two pairs of legs pink, hindlegs ochreous. Forewings: costa bowed; apex not obtuse—termen rather rounded. An orange band runs along costa narrowing at base and apex. From the base an orange coloured area extends through centre of wing as far as the discal dot. The rest of the forewing is a warm orange brown deepening to warm brown at the termen. Along the veins thin orange coloured streaks extend out towards the termen. Cilia brown, duller than the main wing colouring. Lower wings silvery white with a pink suffusion along the terminal edge. Cilia pink.[3]

This species is endemic to New Zealand and known from its type locality of Homer.[1][3]