Species Oegoconia novimundi - Four-spotted Yellowneck Moth - Hodges#1134

1134

Leaf Litter Moth

Oegoconia novimundi (Haworth, 1828) - no longer considered a junior for O. quadripuncta as the two species are clearly distinct both in genital morphology and DNA barcodes (1)

Oegoconia quadripuncta (Haworth, 1828)

Recurvaria quadripuncta Haworth, 1828

Anacampsis bifasciella Stephens, 1835

Lampros kindermanniella Herrich-Schäffer, 1855

Symmoca novimundi Busck, 1915 (84)

*placed by some authors in family Blastobasidae or Gelechiidae or Symmocidae.

Author: Bosk, 1915

Wingspan 11-17 mm.

Forewing length 5.5-7 mm. (2)

Photo records are probably inseparable from O. deauratella, and should be placed at the genus level unless the presence of one species (and not the other) at the location in question has been confirmed from specimens.

Adult - forewing dark gray or blackish with a pale yellowish band crossing the wing about halfway along the costa, and a spot of the same color near the apex; a continuous band of pale yellow across the base of the forewings gives the moth a yellow-collared or yellow-necked appearance; wings held together over abdomen when moth is at rest.

Scattered records from coast to coast in North America. (3)

Introduced into the eastern United States over a century ago and described by Busck as Symmoca novimundi.

Lawns and gardens around homes; adults are nocturnal and come to light.

Adults fly from May to August (peak numbers in July).

Larvae feed on detritus in leaf litter. Has been reared on oak leaf litter. (2)

Oegoconia quadripuncta (Haworth, 1828) is a valid species which is restricted to Europe.

Two species known our area, separable only by dissection or DNA:

Oegoconia novimundi (Busck, 1915)

Type Locality: PA

Reported by Landry et al. (2013) from: [Eastern NA] MI, VA, MD, PA, NJ, NY, MA, VT; [Western NA] BC, WA, CA; now additionally confirmed in ON

Formerly considered a synonym of O. quadripuncta (Haworth, 1828) but restored to species status by Landry et al. (2013). Since that publication, the species has been collected in southern ON (see BOLD:AAH4681). Pohl et al. (2018)(4) reported Canadian records from BC and MB and erroneously indicated that the species was not known from eastern "NA" rather than just eastern Canada as indicated by Landry et al. (2013). The barcoded ON specimens were collected 2015 and 2016, so either Pohl et al. (2018) missed these records or the specimens were not barcoded until more recently.

Oegoconia deauratella (Herrich-Schäffer, 1855)

TL: Austria, Vienna

Reported by Landry et al. (2013) from: QC, ON, MI; now additionally confirmed in MN and PE (BOLD:AAB8271) and NB (Pohl et al. 2018)

Records in western North America and the eastern US outside the northern tier of states may be tentatively called novimundi; records from eastern Canada and adjacent US could easily be either species.

Landry, J-F., Nazari, V., Dewaard, J.R., Mutanen, M., Lopez-Vaamonde, C., Huemer, P., & P.D.N. Hebert, 2013. Shared but overlooked: 30 species of Holarctic Microlepidoptera revealed by DNA barcodes and morphology. Zootaxa 3749 (1): 001–093. (1)

Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. p. 60; pl. 4, fig. 20. (2)

Moth Photographers Group (3)

The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)

Lepiforum: Bestimmung von Schmetterlingen (Lepidoptera) und ihren Präimaginalstadien (pinned and live images as well as genitalia and immature stages)

Moths of North Dakota