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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths (Pyraloidea) » Pyralid Moths (Pyralidae) » Phycitinae » Phycitini » Cactus-Feeding Group » Cahela » Cahela Moth - Hodges#5977 (Cahela ponderosella)

Species Cahela ponderosella - Cahela Moth - Hodges#5977

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Cahela Moth - Cahela ponderosella possible Cahela ponderosella - Cahela ponderosella - male possible Cahela ponderosella - Cahela ponderosella - male 5977 - Cahela ponderosella Cahela ponderosella? - Cahela ponderosella Melitara? - Cahela ponderosella Cahela ponderosella Cahela ponderosella
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 (Cactus-Feeding Group)
Genus Cahela
Species ponderosella (Cahela Moth - Hodges#5977)
Hodges Number
5977
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cahela ponderosella (Barnes & McDunnough, 1918)
Olyca ponderosella Barnes & McDunnough, 1918
Numbers
Cahela ponderosella is the only member of the genus America north of Mexico. (1)
Size
wingspan about 38 mm, based on photo by Jim Vargo at MPG
Identification
Adult: forewing slender, brownish-gray with black longitudinal lines along veins; thickest line runs along cubital (main) vein from AM area to outer margin; another line below that runs from base to anal angle (partly obscured by diffuse blackish shadeline running alongside it); a third much shorter line runs from PM line to outer margin near costa; wing ground color in upper half (near costa) is more grayish, shading to brownish in lower half (near inner margin); hindwing white, much wider than forewing, with white fringe
Range
California(2), and Utah(3) to Colorado and New Mexico; Mexico,
Habitat
dry scrubland with cactus
Season
The main flight period is March to October.
Food
larvae feed on stems of cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia spp.)
Remarks
Type specimen collected in Riverside County, California.
See Also
Eremberga Moth (Eremberga leuconips) forewing lacks black line from base to anal angle, lacks diffuse blackish shading in that same area, and has distinct black dash along inner margin near base - lacking in Cahela Moth
Print References
Mann, J., 1969. Cactus-Feeding Insects and Mites. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 256: 52. (4)
Neunzig, H.H., 1997. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 15.4. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation: p. 70; pl. 3.35-36. (5)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, plate 13, fig. 26; p. 196. (6)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (7)
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
larval foodplant; PDF doc and distribution (Robert Pemberton and Hugo Cordo, paper on Cactoblastis cactorum, Florida Center for Library Automation)
presence in California; list of 6 specimen records with dates and locations (U. of California at Berkeley)
presence in Arizona; list (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)
presence in Utah; list (Joel Johnson, Utah Lepidopterists Society)
author, date, and original genus (Butterflies and Moths of the World)
Works Cited
1.Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico.
Hodges, et al. (editors). 1983. E. W. Classey, London. 284 pp.
2.Essig Museum of Entomology, California Moth Species List
3.Survey of Utah Moth Species
4.Cactus-feeding insects and mites
John Mann. 1969. Bulletin of the United States National Museum, 256: 1-158.
5.The Moths of North America north of Mexico. Fascicle 15.4. Pyraloidea, Pyralidae, Phycitinae (part)
H. H. Neunzig. 1997. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
6.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
7.North American Moth Photographers Group
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 11 August, 2007 - 3:39pm
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 8 February, 2023 - 9:31am

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