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Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Moths » Pyraloidea » Crambid Snout Moths (Crambidae) » Pyraustinae » Spilomelini » Desmia » Grape Leaffolder - Hodges#5159 (Desmia funeralis)

Species Desmia funeralis - Grape Leaffolder - Hodges#5159

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Grape Leaffolder Moth - Desmia funeralis

Grape Leaffolder - Desmia funeralis - male

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

No Taxon (Moths)

Superfamily Pyraloidea

Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)

Subfamily Pyraustinae

Tribe Spilomelini

Genus Desmia

Species funeralis (Grape Leaffolder - Hodges#5159)

Hodges Number

5159

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Desmia funeralis (Hübner)

Size

Wingspan 21-28 mm (1)

Identification

Adult: head black with a few white scales. Forewing long, narrow, and pointed; black with two white spots; hindwing with large white blotch; fringe partly white (1)

Range

across southern United States to California, plus northeastern states and southeastern Canada

Habitat

Deciduous forests and edges

Season

adults fly May-September

Food

Larvae feed on grape (Vitis spp.), Redbud (Cercis canadensis), and evening primrose (Oenothera spp).

Adults take nectar?

Life Cycle

two or three generations per year

Remarks

Day flying, but also comes to lights at night.

See Also

Desmia maculalis is slightly smaller and has prominent white patch on top of head (not slight white scaling, as in Grape Leaffolder); white wing spots not reliable features, since they vary between sexes in both species (1)

Several other Desmia species occur in some areas (example: Florida has 10 species) - see pinned adult images of 6 species by Jim Vargo at MPG

Also note resemblance to Forester moths (Owlet Moth family [Noctuidae], genus Alypia). This is probably a mimicry complex, since these moths and the Foresters are day-flying. Perhaps they both are mimics of a wasp?

Print References

Covell, p. 400, plate 56 #11 (1)

Himmelman, plate C-5 (2)

Internet References

Insects of Cedar Creek

Florida Featured Creatures

Maryland Moths

Lynn Scott

Butterflies and Moths of Kentucky

pinned adult image (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeast Arizona)

pinned and live adult images by various photographers (Moth Photographers Group)

presence in California; list (U. of California at Berkeley)

Works Cited

1.	Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America By Charles V. Covell, Jr.

2.	Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard By John Himmelman

Contributed by Cotinis on 27 May, 2004 - 1:40pm
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Robin McLeod, Brad Barnd
Last updated 28 November, 2007 - 8:58pm

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