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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Twirler Moths and kin (Gelechioidea) » Twirler Moths (Gelechiidae) » Dichomeridinae » Dichomeris » Cream-bordered Dichomeris - Hodges#2295 (Dichomeris flavocostella)

Species Dichomeris flavocostella - Cream-bordered Dichomeris - Hodges#2295

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
moth (072602) - Dichomeris flavocostella Moth #5 on Na vapor light - Dichomeris flavocostella Gelechiidae, Cream-bordered Dichomeris, lateral - Dichomeris flavocostella Gelechiidae, pupa, ventral - Dichomeris flavocostella Dichomeris flavocostella - Dichomeris flavocostella moth . . . ID??? - Dichomeris flavocostella Moth - Dichomeris flavocostella Dichomeris flavocostella
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 Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Family Gelechiidae (Twirler Moths)
Subfamily Dichomeridinae
Genus Dichomeris
Species flavocostella (Cream-bordered Dichomeris - Hodges#2295)
Hodges Number
2295
Other Common Names
Cream-edged Dichomeris (1)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Dichomeris flavocostella (Clemens, 1860)
Trichotaphe flavocostella
* phylogenetic sequence #070725
Explanation of Names
FLAVOCOSTELLA: from the Latin "flavus" (yellow) + "costa" (a rib); [the costa of an insect is the anterior marginal rib of its wing]; refers to the yellowish strip along the costa of the forewing.
Size
Wingspan 15-18 mm.
Identification
Adult - forewing purplish-black with cream-colored strip along costa stopping short of apex; a spur of the strip points inward in the PM area, like a sharp-pointed tooth that touches (or nearly touches) the corresponding "tooth" on the other forewing. Hindwing gray.
Range
Quebec and Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to Manitoba. (2), (3)
Season
Adults fly from May to August (June and July in the north).
Food
Larvae are leaf rollers and tiers on aster, goldenrod, sunflower. (4)
Life Cycle
Larval leaf roll; larva; pupa; adult
See Also
At least two other Dichomeris species are similar (aleatrix and inserrata) but the yellowish "tooth" in their PM area is truncated and blunt, and does not come close to touching the corresponding "tooth" on the other forewing.
Print References
Beadle, D. & S. Leckie 2012. Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin. p.67-68 (preview) (1)
Clemens, B. 1860. New American Micro-Lepidoptera. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia 1: 131-132
Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. p.438, pl.64.4 (5)
Loeffler, C.C. 1994. Natural History of Leaf-Folding Caterpillars, Dichomeris spp. (Gelechiidae), on Goldenrods and Asters. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 102(4): 405-428 (free access) (4)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group
BOLD Systems
live adult images plus description, food plants, and flight season (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.A List of the Lepidoptera of Maine. Part 2, The Microlepidoptera. Section 1 & 2
Auburn E. Brower. 1984. Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 114: 1-70.
4.Natural History of Leaf-Folding Caterpillars, Dichomeris spp. (Gelechiidae), on Goldenrods and Asters.
Carol C. Loeffler. 1994. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 102(4): 405-428.
5.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 17 October, 2005 - 6:44pm
Additional contributions by anitagould, Robert Lord Zimlich, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy
Last updated 15 April, 2022 - 3:16pm

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