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Scardiella approximatella - Hodges#0308 (Scardiella approximatella)
Photo#250898
Copyright © 2009
Jerry Armstrong
Pre-tortricid micro - Scardiella approximatella -
Scardiella approximatella
Moccasin Lake, Winston, Douglas County, Georgia, USA
August 13, 2008
This appears to be Scardiella approximatella - Hodges #308. ID'd using MPG. Comments welcomed. Attracted to light.
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Contributed by
Jerry Armstrong
on 28 January, 2009 - 5:36am
Last updated 12 December, 2010 - 11:16pm
Moved
Moved from
Clothes Moths
.
…
Charley Eiseman
, 12 December, 2010 - 11:16pm
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ID possibilities
The main source of the info presented here is Robinson, G. S. 1986. Fungus moths: a review of the Scardiinae (Lepidoptera: Tineidae). Bulletin of the British Museum of Natural History (Entomology) 52(2): 37-181. There are three possibilities for the ID of this moth, two of which (
Scardiella approximatella
and
Morophagoides burkerella
) you have already suggested, and the third being
Montescardia fuscofasciella
. All of these moths are similar in pattern and coloration.
Scardiella approximatella
is known from a fairly large range from southeastern Canada throughout the eastern USA, including Georgia. It is markedly smaller (wingspan 13-16mm) than the other two spp. (wingspan 18-28m).
Morophagoides burkerella
is known almost exclusively from far-western USA/southwestern Canada. It was described from Washington state, as was one of its junior synonyms,
errandella
; two additional junior synonyms,
gracilis
and
caryophylella
, were described from California. The sole record of this moth in eastern North America appears in Forbes (1923, Lep. NY and Neighboring States, p. 123), where the species was listed (as
errandella
) as occurring in western Pennsylvania. Apparently, no one knows the whereabouts of the specimen(s) upon which Forbes' record was based. Robinson did not examine them, nor did he cite any other material of
M. burkerella
from the eastern USA. Its occurrence in this part of the country therefore seems quite doubtful.
Montescardia fuscofasciella
was described by Chambers from a specimen that probably originated in Texas. Moreover, the type specimen of Busck's
Scardia pravatella
, a junior synonym of
M. fuscofasciella
, was collected at New Brighton, Pennsylvania, and Robinson cites one additional specimen that was collected in North Carolina. So,
M. fuscofasciella
could be an eastern-USA species, but of the three species under discussion here,
M. fuscofasciella
is the one that least resembles your moth; plus, the three specimens mentioned above, all of which were collected over 100 years ago, are the only three known examples of it.
From what can be determined of the scale in your photo, this moth looks to be on the 13-16mm end of the size range, and the photo was taken within the confirmed geographic range of
S. aproximatella
. Given that, plus the doubt regarding the occurrence of
M. burkerella
in the eastern USA, and the somewhat dissimilar appearance and apparent rarity of
M. fuscofasciella
, the safest determination of your moth, based on what we know at present, is that it is
S. approximatella
.
…
Terry Harrison
, 12 December, 2010 - 3:42pm
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Moved to Tineidae
Moved from
Moths
.
I think you're in the right subfamily and you might even have the right species. Take a look
here
. Those look out out of range but it makes skeptical of all the IDs in this group.
…
Steve Nanz
, 15 February, 2010 - 10:28am
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same species in MD
I have multiple images that match this specimen in MD. Good match with the collection specimen and live photos for Scardiella approximatella. What is the expected range?
Dave Roberts
Bethesda, MD
…
David Roberts
, 12 June, 2010 - 7:07pm
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An Error Perhaps?
Not sure what's going on here but the link I gave, which was for
Morophagoides burkerella
at All-Leps, no longer has images or collection points. Same deal for
Scardiella approximatella
.
BOLD does however have them
here
and
here
. The examples of
Morophagoides burkerella
look very similar but are from British Columbia. The examples of
Scardiella approximatella
do not look as close but are from south west USA.
…
Steve Nanz
, 13 June, 2010 - 4:11am
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