Species Eucosma tomonana - Aster-head Eucosma Moth - Hodges#2936

2936

Aster-head Phaneta Moth

Eucosma tomonana Kearfott, 1907 (1), (2)

Eucosma limigena Meyrick, 1912 (3)

Thiodia tomonana Heinrich 1923 (4)

Phaneta tomonana

Phylogenetic sequence #620836

Specific epithet is part of a series of Kearfott names originating from various alphabetical rhyming schemes with no meaning, often derided by subsequent authors as "nonsense names." See Brown (2001) for a humorous take on this "barbarous" practice. (5), (3)

Heinrich (1923) listed the wingspan 12-15 mm. (4)

"forewings of pale gray, somewhat brownish in tone, with fine striations of slightly darker gray, most evident towards the costa. The most eye-catching features are the two large blackish spots at the inner margin. The innermost spot forms half a crescent shape; the outer spot forms an approximate half-circle. When the moths is at rest, with wings closed, it appears to have a dark crescent followed by a dark circle in the middle of its back. In some specimens, these dark spots appear to be partially bordered by a narrow pale beige to whitish line. There are a few small blackish dots or spots near the anal angle" [description by Lynn Scott]

genitalia

Northeastern North America. (6)

Moth Photographers Group map (6)

Forbes (1923) reported the flight period as August to September. (7)

larvae feed on flower heads of aster (Rings, R.W. and Metzler, E.H. 2002. The Lepidoptera of Portage County, Ohio. OARDC Research Bulletin 1195)

Heinrich (1923) reported the host was unknown. (4)

Heinrich, C. 1923. Revision of the North American moths of the subfamily Eucosminae of the family Olethreutidae. United States National Museum Bulletin 123: 48. (4)

Kearfott, 1907. New micro-lepidoptera. The Canadian Entomologist. 39(3): 78 (1)

Moth Photographers Group (6)

The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (8)

Tortricidae.com - images

Lynn Scott’s Lepidoptera - species account