Species Calamotropha paludella - Hodges#5467.5

5467.5

Calamotropha paludella Hübner, [1824]

Two introductions: RI, NY, CT (likely European origin); VA (likely Oriental origin). Found throughout temperate and tropical regions of the Old World.

Typha (cattail or bulrush)

This taxon occurs throughout much of the Old World from Europe to Japan, Australia, and South Africa. Oriental populations are markedly different in coloration (silvery white with orange markings) from European populations (tan with darker tan markings). The species was first recognized in North America following discovery of a population on Block Island, RI matching the European phenotype. A single individual was photographed on Block Island in 2017, and the species was well-established by the following year, when seven individuals were recorded at four sites. Single records from eastern Long Island in 2008, 2018, and 2021 suggest the species may have become established on Long Island before spreading to Block Island. The first mainland record is of a male photographed in Bristol, RI in 2021. The species was observed in 2022 at two sites in eastern Connecticut and one in western Rhode Island and on Fishers Island, NY. In 2023, a population seemingly of Oriental origin was discovered in northern Virginia along the Potomac Estuary.