Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Mathildana newmanella (Clemens, 1864)
(1)
Dasycera newmanella Clemens, 1864
Oecophora newmanella
Phylogenetic sequence # 030450
Explanation of Names
Named in honor of George Newman (1801-1876), a founder and one-time president (1861-1862) of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia.
Size
7 to 9 mm long. Wingspan 14-19 mm.
(1)Identification
Head: Smooth, brassy purplish-black. Palpi orange; very long and curved over head; underside scaled; last segment with some brown.
Antenna: Brassy purplish-black; thicker at base. Last 8 segments white.
Thorax: Brassy purplish-black.
Wings: Brassy purplish-black with broken orange stripe from base to about mid-wing. Fringe gray. Orange stripes lighter to absent in southern populations. Hindwings oval, dark gray.
Legs: Shiny, brassy purplish-black with white patches.
Abdomen: Lighter purplish-black, underside brassy.
Adults are day fliers.
Range
Eastern Canada and eastern U.S., Nebraska
Season
Adults fly April to June.
(2)Food
Bracket fungus, rotting wood, debris.
Life Cycle
Larvae feed from webs made under bark of standing dead trees such as apple.
(2)
Rawlins reared larvae on the sporophore of the mushroom
Ganoderma tsugae (Hemlock varnish shelf).
(3)Remarks
Types:
Holotype as Dasycera newmanella by Clemens, 1964. #172. Locality: Virginia. In Museum of Natural History, Philadelphia, Drexel University, Pennsylvania.
Print References
Clarke, J.F. Gates 1941. Revision of the North American moths of the family Oecophoridae, with descriptions of new genera and species. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 90(3107):
237-239 (1)
Clemens, B. 1864. North American Micro-Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 2:
428
Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. p.469, pl.61, f.17
(2)
Hodges, R.W. 1974. The Moths of North America, Fascicle 6.2, p.122; pl.6.22.
(4)
Wheeler, Q. & M. Blackwell (Editors) 1984. Fungus - Insect Relationships: Perspectives in Ecology and Evolution. Columbia University Press,
387.
(3)Internet References
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 1863-64, Vol. 2: North American Microlepidoptera by Brackenridge Clemens, pp. 427 to 428.
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 1901-03, Vol. 5: Notes on Brackenridge Clemens’ Types of Tineina by August Busck, pg. 218.
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 1942, Vol. 90, pp. 236 to 237 by Clarke.
