Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Incurvaria politella Walsingham, 1888
(1),
(2)
Phylogenetic sequence #210017
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet is Latin meaning "polished" for the forewings that are "shining, pale greyish with a slight aeneous (coppery) tinge."
(1),
(3)Identification
Adult - uniformly brownish gray, irrorated with a sparse scattering of somewhat indistinct grayish white scales, sometimes so heavily as to impart a pale bronzy iridescence. Hindwing gray, usually darker than forewing and without pale, bronzy luster.
(2)
Pupa - Dark brown to black. Vertex smoothly rounded.
(2)
Egg - White, pyriform or oblong, molded by surrounding ovules, 0.35 x 0.2 mm. Chorion smooth.
(2)Range
From southern British Columbia to California Channel Islands and southern Sierra Nevada. From the Pacific coast to Idaho and Colorado.
Season
Flies from mid-March to early August.
Food
Host plants have been recorded from the species listed below, all in the saxifrage family (Saxifragaceae):
Lithophragma affine, L. bolanderi, L. cymbalaria, L. heterophyllum, L. parviflorum, L. tenellum, and Heuchera grossulariifolia.
Life Cycle
The female oviposits down into the ovary, and the larva feeds first on seeds and later after hibernation on vegetative parts (Pellmyr & Thompson, 1992).
Remarks
The adult moth pollinates its host while the larvae feeds off the seeds. This relationship is similar to the well-known example of mutualism between yucca plants and yucca moths,
Tegeticula, also in the family Prodoxidae. For more details, see the article by Pellmyr & Thompson cited below under "Print References". (See also the "Remarks" on the
Tegeticula info page.)
Print References
Pellmyr, O. & J.N. Thompson 1992. Multiple Occurrences of Mutualism in the Yucca Moth Lineage. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 89(7): 2927-2929 (
PDF)
Davis, Pellmyr & Thompson (1992). Biology and systematics of
Greya Busck and
Tetragma, new genus (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae).
Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 524: 1-74, Figs. 251-375.
(2)
Walsingham, T. de Grey. 1888. Steps towards a revision of Chambers' index* with notes and descriptions of new species.
Insect Life 1(5):
146.
(1)Internet References
Curated reference photo:
Plate 1.29 (enlarged online version of reference photo from Powell & Opler
(4))
