Size
wingspan about 18 mm, based on Jim Vargo specimen at MPG
Identification
Adult: forewing light brown, long and slender with pointed apex; dark brown arc begins at inner margin about one-third distance from base, and ends in subterminal area; white-outlined dark brown semicircular patch along costa near apex; inner margin concave near anal angle; hindwing grayish-brown; abdomen held in curved C shape over thorax when moth is at rest; legs very long and thin with small "ruffle" of scales near base of tibia on forelegs and midlegs
Range
southern United States (Florida to California), south to Chile; also recorded from Illinois, Michigan, and Ontario (perhaps imported along with nursery plants in the tomato family?)
Food
larvae feed on plants in the tomato family (Solanaceae) such as ground-cherry (Physalis spp.), pepper (Capsicum spp.), Tropical Soda Apple (Solanum viarum), and garden tomato
Remarks
The noxious weed Tropical Soda Apple (
Solanum viarum) was found moderately infested with
Lineodes integra larvae in Orlando, Florida on 1 June 1995 by P. Courneya, USDA. (Carlos Artaud,
Florida Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services)
Internet References
pinned adult image by Jim Vargo (Moth Photographers Group)
food plants; PDF doc and distribution (US Dept. of Agriculture)
presence in California; list (U. of California at Berkeley)
common name reference [Eggplant Leafroller] and presence in Florida; list (Michael Thomas, Florida State Collection of Arthropods)
common name reference; PDF doc [Nightshade Leaftier] and presence in Chile (Australian Government)
presence in Michigan; PDF list (Mogens Nielsen, Preliminary List of Michigan Moths: The Microlepidoptera, Michigan Entomological Society, 1998)
presence in Ontario; list (NHIC; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)
