Pasiphila halianthes

Meyrick described this species as follows:

♂. 26-27 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax fuscous mixed with whitish and dark fuscous, shoulders partially suffused with red; palpi 2+1⁄4. Antennae biciliated with long fascicles. Forewings triangular, costa posteriorly arched, termen little bowed, oblique, subsinuate above tornus; pale fuscous mixed with white and dark fuscous, sometimes partially suffused with pale red, appearing purplish-tinged; normal fasciae formed of blackish irroration; median band broad, anterior edge hardly curved, below middle sometimes largely suffused with white and partially with pale red, posterior edge running from before 3⁄4 of costa to tornus, very obtusely angulated below middle, followed by well-marked pale double second line; fifth and sixth fasciae little marked, below middle obsolete through contraction of area : cilia fuscous mixed with whitish, distinctly barred with dark fuscous. Hindwings with termen tolerably evenly rounded, hardly prominent on vein 3; pale-grey, towards dorsum sprinkled with black and white. This species is likely variable in appearance and is regarded as being a relatively large species in this genus.

This species is endemic to New Zealand. This species has been observed in both the North and South Islands including in the Otago and Fiordland regions.