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Species Pococera asperatella - Maple Webworm Moth - Hodges#5606

Maybe Pococera 2 - Pococera asperatella Pococera asperatella Maple Webworm Moth  - Pococera asperatella Maple Webworm Moth - Pococera asperatella 5606 Pococera asperatella – Maple Webworm - Pococera asperatella Pococera asperatella Pennsylvania Moth  - Pococera asperatella Pococera asperatella
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 Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
Subfamily Epipaschiinae
Genus Pococera
Species asperatella (Maple Webworm Moth - Hodges#5606)
Hodges Number
5606
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Pococera asperatella (Clemens, 1860)
Lanthaphe asperatella Clemens, 1860
Phylogenetic sequence # 166575
Numbers
There are twenty-six named species of Pococera in America north of Mexico.
Identification
Specimen identified by DNA analysis (caution, see Remarks below):
Range
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Season
Most records are from March through October. MPG
Food
Known larval hosts include various maples and oaks, quaking aspen and American beech. (1) There is also a BugGuide record on American sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua). (2) (This may be a misidentified P. melanogrammos which apparently feeds on sweetgum.)
Life Cycle
When the larvae become full grown they leave the nest and drop to the ground on strands of silk. The winter is spent as a prepupa in a cocoon spun in the duff on the ground.(3)
One generation per year.(3)
Remarks
Identifications of Pococera based on DNA should be considered tentative pending further investigations and possibly revision of this genus. There are at least 8 Barcode Index Number (BIN) groups with specimens identified as Pococera asperatella. DNA barcode evidence seems to suggest that P. asperatella may be a complex containing undescribed species. Some BINs refer to other species with specimens misidentified as asperatella. Below is a list of these BINs as of 5/15/2019:
BOLD:AAA8498: 25 asperatella, 3 melanogrammos, 1 sp.
BOLD:ACE4466: 19 asperatella, 39 expandens, 3 maritimalis, 1 subcanalis, 23 sp.
BOLD:ABY6852: 10 asperatella, 19 expandens, 4 spaldingella, 8 sp.
BOLD:AAA3814: 25 asperatella, 25 asperatella, 25 asperatella, 25 asperatella
BOLD:ACF4182: 2 asperatella, 3 sp.
BOLD:ACE3864: 2 asperatella, 24 expandens, 5 sp.
BOLD:AAI2791: 1 asperatella, 1 griseella
BOLD:AAB7370: 1 asperatella, 27 maritimalis, 2 melanogrammos, 1 subcanalis, 1 aplastella
See Also
Double-humped Pococera Moth - Pococera expandens
Print References
Clemens, B. 1860 Contributions to American Lepidopterology. No. 5. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 12: 207
Forbes, 1923: 607. (4)
Works Cited
1.HOSTS - The Hostplants and Caterpillars Database
2.Pococera asperatella
3.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
4.The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States
William T.M. Forbes. 1923. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Memoir 68.