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Species Vitula edmandsii - American Wax Moth - Hodges#6007

Vitula - Vitula edmandsii Pyralid moth - Vitula edmandsii Vitula edmandsii ID request Moth 52 - Vitula edmandsii Pyralid Moth - Vitula edmandsii Unknown moth - Vitula edmandsii Unknown Moth - Vitula edmandsii Vitula edmandsii
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 Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
Subfamily Phycitinae
Tribe Phycitini
No Taxon (Ephestia Series)
Genus Vitula
Species edmandsii (American Wax Moth - Hodges#6007)
Hodges Number
6007
Other Common Names
Dried Fruit Moth
Driedfruit Moth
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Vitula edmandsii (Packard, 1864)
Nephopteryx [sic] edmandsii Packard, 1864
Vitula dentosella Ragonot, 1887
Vitula edmandsae Heinrich, 1956 emendation
Size
Wingspan: 20–25 mm (1)
Identification
Adult: Distinctive blue-grey FW ground color, with a slight rosy suffusion with blackish markings. (1)
Range
Southeastern Canada and eastern USA.
Type locality (edmandsii): Warwick, MA; Bridport, VT.
Type locality (dentosella): Florida; North Carolina.
Season
Multivoltine on Block Island, RI, with adult records from early June through mid-October.(2)
Life Cycle
Larvae are larger than larvae of the Indian meal moth. From egg to adult, the elapsed time averages 88 days. In the summer, the incubation period is about 9 days, larvae develop for 69 days, and the pupal period lasts 10 days. Adults live about 9 days and lay eggs for about 6 days. Their egg production varies from 63 to 200 but averages 128. These moths pass the winter as larvae
Remarks
"In western North America the driedfruit moth, Vitula serratilineella Ragonot, is a pest of stored raisins, prunes, dried apple and other dried fruit product. It is distiguished by... lighter colored forewings and nearly white (not brownish) hindwings. In eastern North America a closely related species, Vitula edmandsii (Packard), has brownish hindwings. It invades beehives but is not known to be a true pest of stored-products. Some authorities consider V. edmandsii and V. serratilineella a single species, with a western subspecies V. edmandsii serratilineella. Others retain the division between eastern and western species."
See Also
Vitula serratilineella is a western species. See "Remarks" above.
Print References
Packard, A. S. 1865: The humble bees of New England and their parasites; with notices of a new species of Anthophorabia, and a new genus of Proctotrupidae. Proceedings of the Essex Institute. 4(6): 120; pl. 3 figs 2, 2a, 2b.
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group – species page (3)
BOLD Systems - images of DNA supported specimens (4)
Wikipedia - brief description (1)
pinned adult image (Bert Gustafsson, Swedish Museum of Natural History)
common name reference [Dried Fruit Moth] and presence in Florida (John Heppner, Florida State Collection of Arthropods)