Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#123222
Micro Moth - Eudarcia eunitariaeella - male

Micro Moth - Eudarcia eunitariaeella - Male
Chicago, Chicago Area County, Illinois, USA
June 30, 2007
Size: < 1 cm est...
This little moth was on a lilac bush outside my house. I almost didn't think it was alive until I got too close and it flew off... It kind of looks like Opostega, but also like some of the Monopis on MPG...

If anyone could help me on an ID it would be much appricated...

Moved
Moved from Moths.

Moth on lilac
This is Tineidae: Eudarcia eunitariaeella. The yellow, somewhat thickened antennae indicate that it is male (the antennae are dark colored, and narrower, in the female). The larva of this moth probably feeds on fungus in dead wood.

 
wow... thanks for the ID. I'd
wow... thanks for the ID. I'd given up on this one years ago. I am curious though. How did you recognize it? I searched the web for Tineidae Eudarcia eunitariaeella but I can't seem to find any live images.

Thank again for the ID!

 
Recognizing Eudarcia
I know it through my general studies of Tineidae. Somewhere along the line, I collected an individual of E. eunitariaeella, did a dissection, and identified it by comparison with a genitalia figure, then double-checked by taking the specimen to the nearest institutional collection of microlepidoptera and confirming it as a match for the specimens of E. eunitariaeella in there.

As far as I know, you're right about there not being an online image of a live individual of E. eunitariaeella, other than yours.

 
fascinating.. Thanks again fo
fascinating.. Thanks again for the ID. I really wish that shot had come out more clear now...

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.