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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Twirler Moths and kin (Gelechioidea) » Cosmet Moths (Cosmopterigidae)

Family Cosmopterigidae - Cosmet Moths

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Moth? - Anatrachyntis badia moth - Walshia Florida Pink Scavenger Moth - Hodges #1513 - Anatrachyntis badia Moth 7/5.7 - Limnaecia phragmitella St. Andrews leaf miner on Quercus laevis SA1375 Stilbosis 2018 4 - Stilbosis moth - Melanocinclis Stilbosis venifica Twirler Moth - Walshia miscecolorella
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 Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Family Cosmopterigidae (Cosmet Moths)
Other Common Names
Cosmopterigid Moths
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
BugGuide currently follows the moth classification and nomenclature used at Moth Photographers Group.
Explanation of Names
From the type genus Cosmopterix. Generic epithet Cosmopterix is Greek meaning "ornamental wings." (1)
Numbers
About 181 species in 26 genera in 3 subfamilies in North America. At least 1,628 species in 106 genera worldwide.
Size
Wingspan 4-26 mm
Identification
Small to minute moths. Labial palps long, curving upward, often sickle-shaped. Forewing and hindwing lancelike. Forewing shape varies from narrow to extremely narrow; hindwing usually extremely narrow. Wings often brightly marked.
Range
much of North America and the world
Season
adult flight season ranges from March to November (varies according to species)
Food
diverse feeding habits: includes bark and leaf miners, seed borers, gall makers, seed & flower bud feeders, and scavengers on dead plant material; one genus is parasitic on armored scale insects
Print References
Covell, 1984 (2)
Busck, 1906 (3)
Hodges, 1962 (4)
Hodges, 1969 (downloadable) (5)
Hodges, 1978 (6)
Koster, 2010 (7)(downloadable here)
Internet References
technical description plus pinned adult image of undeterminied cosmopterigid and other info (Gerald Fauske, Moths of North Dakota)
common name reference [Cosmet Moths] (Tree of Life, tolweb.org)
Works Cited
1.An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names.
Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.
2.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
3. A review of the American moths of the genus Cosmopteryx Hübner
Busck, A. 1906. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 30: 707-713.
4.A revision of the Cosmopterigidae of America north of Mexico, with a definition of the Momphidae and Walshiidae
Hodges, R. W. 1962. Entomologica Americana 42 (N. S.): 1-166.
5.Nearctic Walshiidae notes and new taxa (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea)
Hodges, R. W. 1969. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 18: 1-30.
6.The Moths of North America North of Mexico. Fascicle 6.1, Gelechioidea, Antequerinae, Cosmopteriginae, Chrysopeleiinae.
Hodges, R. W. 1978. London: E. W. Classey Ltd. and The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, 166 pp.
7.The genera Cosmopterix Hübner and Pebobs Hodges in the New World
Koster, J.C. . 2010. Zoologische Mededelingen 84: 251-575.
Contributed by Beatriz Moisset on 22 June, 2005 - 8:07am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Robin McLeod, Chuck Entz, Edward Ruden, Randy Hardy, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 17 December, 2016 - 9:41pm

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