Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Original combination Incurvaria piperella Busck, 1904
Synonymized under punctiferella Barnes and McDunnough, 1917
Elevated from synonymy of Greya punctiferrella Davis et al., 1992
Explanation of Names
The epithet
piperella is derived from Latin meaning "little peppered one."
(1)Numbers
One of 16 species in the genus for North America north of Mexico.
Identification
Adult - white or cream-coloured in females, sometimes with stamineous tinge in Alberta specimens; with gray tinge in male; numerous fine spots; hindwings gray.
Egss - pear-shaped, white, about 0.5 x 0.25 mm in diameter.
(2)Range
Dry interior parts of southern British Columbia to central Oregon, reaching eastward to western Montana. An isolated population is known from central-interior California. Altitudinal range, 200-2300 m.
(2)Habitat
Open, grassy coniferous forest, or on rockfaces where its host is found.
Food
Larvae mine in the flower peduncles of Alum-root (
Heuchera cylindrica (Saxifragaceae)) (Davis et al. 1992), feeding only on meristematic tissue (Brown et al. 1994). Adults also drink nectar from the larval host (Pellmyr et al. 1996).
Life Cycle
Adults oviposit in the peduncle of the host flower one week before the flowers open (Davis et al. 1992).
Print References
Davis, Pellmyr & Thompson. 1992. Biology and systematics of
Greya Busck and
Tetragma, new genus (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae).
Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 524: 1-74, f.251-375.
(2)Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page with photos of living and pinned adults.
E. H. Strickland Museum - size, description, habitat, food plant, life cycle
Moth Photographers Group - photo of pinned adult and related species.
BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with photograph of pinned adult and DNA sequence