Gelechiid ex cynipid galls - Taygete sylvicolella

Moved

Moved from Litini.

Specimen examined by Terry, who notes that the species is misplaced in this genus.

… Charley Eiseman, 29 February, 2020 - 8:52am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

I guess I'll go with Litini for now. Terry, thanks for the offer; I'll either send this to you or to Jean-François, when I get around to it.

… Charley Eiseman, 7 November, 2016 - 5:43am

Nice series. Were you thinking of

? The only thing that bothered me was the lack of any yellow on the BG and BOLD images and it would be a new host plant.

… A. Hendrickson, 4 November, 2016 - 11:56am

That does seem close...

but I agree, not quite a perfect match. I hadn't really tried to ID it yet, and posted it here just to see if anyone happened to recognize it. I saved the specimen and will send it to someone who can positively ID it, eventually.

… Charley Eiseman, 4 November, 2016 - 3:29pm

Recurvaria?

Your moth certainly looks to be a relative of R. nanella, but I agree with your assessment that it is not a match. It appears that the arc of the basal marking on the forewing runs basal to apical in your moth (such that it would collectively form a "frown" in a dorsal shot of the moth in resting position, with the head of the moth at the top of the image), whereas the arc of this marking is the opposite in R. nanella, such that it would form a "smile" if viewed in the orientation described above. And of course there is the presence (your moth) versus absence (R. nanella) of rust-colored scales around a couple of the black markings on the forewings, which seems to be a real difference, considering that the individuals in some of the images of R. nanella here on BugGuide appear to be in very good condition. Also, it seems very unlikely that R. nanella, a Rosaceae feeder, would feed on oak galls.

I would be happy to dissect this moth if at some time you would like to send it. Interesting indeed.

… Terry Harrison, 4 November, 2016 - 4:23pm