Species Agonopterix robiniella - Four-dotted Agonopterix - Hodges#0882

0882

Locust Leaf Roller (larva)

Agonopterix robiniella (Packard, 1869)

Depressaria robiniella Packard, 1869

Depressaria hilarella Zeller, 1873

Specific epithet robiniella from the locust genus Robinia, the larval foodplant, and origin of the common name Locust Leaf Roller.

Wingspan about 16 mm. (1)

Adult - forewing ground color orangish with sparse dark speckling; diffuse X-shaped gray shade line in basal half; single black dot in area of AM line; gray shading may extend into distal half of wing, giving overall patchy/blotchy appearance; hindwing brownish-gray with pale fringe.

Larva - head black; body green with thin pale band across each abdominal segment.

Nova Scotia to Georgia, west to Oklahoma, north to Illinois, Michigan, southern Ontario.

Adults fly from June to October.

Larvae feed on leaves of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia).

Thelma's Agonopterix (Agonopterix thelmae) forewing is more yellowish-brown, has more extensive dark speckling, a reddish-orange smudge near middle of wing, two black spots usually present in location of AM line, and a diffuse gray shade line from middle of wing toward inner margin, then bending toward apex

Packard, A.S. 1869. Guide to the study of insects and a treatise on those injurious and beneficial to crops (Ninth edition). Henry Holt & Company. p.349

Moth Photographers Group

pinned adult image by David Smith (John Snyder, Furman U., South Carolina)

adult image plus date and foodplant (Larry Line, Maryland)

live larva image by Steven Munson, plus common name reference [Locust Leaf Roller; larva] (USDA Forest Service, insectimages.org)

presence in Illinois; list (Illinois State Museum)

general distribution (Dalton State College, Georgia)