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Species Argyresthia alternatella - Hodges#2435

Representative Images

Moth - Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthia? - Argyresthia alternatella Honey-comb Micro Argyresthia alternatella 2435 - Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthiidae (Shiny Head-Standing Moth), lateral - Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthia alternatella Argyresthia alternatella - Hodges#2435 - Argyresthia alternatella
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 Yponomeutoidea (Ermine Moths and kin)
Family Argyresthiidae (Shiny Head-Standing Moths)
Genus Argyresthia
Species alternatella (Argyresthia alternatella - Hodges#2435)

Hodges Number

2435

Other Common Names

Honey-Comb Micro (for the pattern, not the diet)
Juniper Seed Caterpillar (Marcovitch)

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Argyresthia alternatella Kearfott, 1908 (1)
Gelechia alternatella
Phylogenetic sequence #360141

Explanation of Names

Specific epithet is meant as an alternative to "A. cupressella Wlsm. (described from California) which they superficially resemble." (1)

Numbers

52 spp in genus north of Mexico per Arnett (1985) (2)

Size

Wingspan 10-12 mm (Kearfott, 1908; Marcovitch, 1915).
Larva to 7 mm (Marcovitch, 1915).
Pupa about 4 mm (Marcovitch, 1915).

Identification

Larva - see Marcovitch description available through Print References below.
Adult - see both Kearfott and Marcovitch descriptions below. (1)

Range

MPG records as of May, 2013 indicate a range from western Texas north to Minnesota, east to southern Quebec and Massachusetts, southwest through New Jersey, Kentucky and on to Alabama. However, Braun collected them at 5175' in Glacier National Park, Montana so the range is presumably much wider. (3)
Type Location: Essex County, New Jersey. (1)

Food

Larvae feed on the berries of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana, Cupressaceae) (Marcovitch, 1915). Note: Braun collected the adults in Montana, well outside the USDA range data of this host.

Life Cycle

Eggs laid on stems just below below juniper berries. Full-grown larvae leave the seed and build white silken cocoons, presumably on the plant, in which they pupate (Marcovitch, 1915).

Print References

Beadle, D. & S. Leckie. 2012. Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin. p.42-43 (4)
Braun, A.F. 1921. Two weeks collecting at Glacier National Park. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 73: 10. (5)
Kearfott, W.D. 1908. New North American Tortricidae and Tineina. Journal of the New York Entomoligical Society 16(3): 182 (1)
Marcovitch, R. 1915. The biology of the juniper berry insects, and descriptions of new species. Annals of the Entomological Society of America 8(2): 174-177

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (3)
Microleps.org
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (6)

Works Cited

1.New North American Tortricidæ and Tineina
W. D. Kearfott. 1908. Journal of The New York Entomological Society, 16: 167-188.
2.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
3.North American Moth Photographers Group
4.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
5.Two weeks collecting in Glacier National Park
Annette F. Braun. 1921. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 73(1): 1-23.
6.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Mike Quinn on 6 February, 2009 - 1:51pm
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy
Last updated 12 November, 2017 - 11:37am

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