Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Paleacrita vernata Peck, 1795
Synonyms
Anisopteryx sericeiferata Walker, 1862
Paleacrita autumnata Packard, 1876
Paleacrita speciosa Hulst, 1898
Phylogenetic Sequence # 911083
Explanation of Names
VERNATA - From Latin vern meaning "the spring'
Numbers
Powell & Opler (2009) reported three described species of the genus
Paleacrita in North America.
(1)Size
Male forewing length 11-18 mm., females wingless.
(1)Range
Nova Scotia into Saskatchewan, Maine to Tennessee and North Carolina in the mountains. It is found in the central United States from Michigan to North Dakota, south to Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. It is known from Colorado, and there is one record from Siskiyou County, California
Season
Adults fly from February to late May.
(1)Food
Larval hosts are a wide variety of broadleaf trees and shrubs, to include maple, elm, birch and plum
(1)Life Cycle
Wingless females lay batches up to 250 eggs under loose bark or in crevices. Early instar larvae disperse by ballooning on silken threads. Full grown larvae drop from the host and pupate in the soil without making a silken cocoon. Winter is passed as pupa
(1)Print References
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009.
Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, plate 28, fig. 36; p. 212.
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