Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Crambus daeckellus - Daecke's Grass-veneer - Hodges#5350

5350 – Crambus daeckellus - Crambus daeckellus 5350 – Crambus daeckellus - Crambus daeckellus New Jersey Moth - Crambus daeckellus
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)
Subfamily Crambinae (Crambine Snout Moths)
Tribe Crambini (Grass-Veneers)
Genus Crambus
Species daeckellus (Daecke's Grass-veneer - Hodges#5350)
Hodges Number
5350
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Crambus daeckellus Haimbach, 1907
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet in honor of German-born entomologist Von Adolf Erich Daecke who collected the first specimens.
Size
Wingspan: 27-31 mm, making it the largest Crambus species normally found in the eastern US (1).
Identification
The combination of its large size and pattern of silvery streaks should be diagnostic (1).
Range
Endemic to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey (known from Fort Dix, Lakehurst Naval Station, and near Warren Grove), but its suspected foodplant also occurs in the southern Appalachians (1).
Habitat
Found in pitch pine (Pinus rigida) lowlands and reedgrass (Calamovilfa brevipilis) savannas. All documented recent sites had burned within the previous 1-5 years, and some occupied patches burn almost every year" (1).
Season
May to June, September (1).
Food
Suspected to be Eastern Turkeybeard (Xerophyllum asphodeloides), but this has not been confirmed (1).
Life Cycle
Very little is known about the biology of this species. "Adults are often found a few months after fires, suggesting that the caterpillars and pupae live underground" (1).
Remarks
Heavily dependent on frequent fire, which cuts back on tall shrubs, invasive species, and allows Eastern Turkeybeard (Xerophyllum asphodeloides), its suspected hostplant, to grow (1).
Print References
Haimbach, F. 1907: Two new species of Crambus and a new variety of Haematopsis grataria Fabricius. Entomological News, Philadelphia 18: 44–45.
Works Cited
1.Rare, Declining, and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States
Dale F. Schweitzer, Marc C. Minno, David L. Wagner. 2011. U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, FHTET-2011-01. .
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems