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Species Phycitodes reliquellum - Hodges#5946.2

A Phycitodes sp. - Phycitodes reliquellum Unknown Micromoth - Phycitodes reliquellum Phycitodes reliquellum Pyralid Moth - Hodges #5946.2 - Phycitodes reliquellum Homoeosoma stypticella - Phycitodes reliquellum Moth - Phycitodes reliquellum Phycitini ? - Phycitodes reliquellum Phycitodes reliquellum ? - Phycitodes reliquellum
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 Phycitinae
Tribe Phycitini
No Taxon (Homoeosoma Series)
Genus Phycitodes
Species reliquellum (Phycitodes reliquellum - Hodges#5946.2)
Hodges Number
5946.2
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Phycitodes reliquellum (Dyar, 1904)
Homoeosoma reliquellum Dyar, 1904
Rotruda mucidella reliquellum Heinrich, 1956:226 (1)
Phycitodes albatella reliquella
Elevated from subsp. of albatella by Neunzig, 1997 (2)
Explanation of Names
Phycitodes reliquellum, elevated from subspecies Phycitodes albatella (Neunzig 1997), is a synonym of Phycitodes mucidella (Ragonot, 1887) (Scholtens & Hayden in Pohl & Nanz (eds.) 2023).
Size
Expanse 15-16 mm - Dyar, 1904:112
Identification
"Smooth, obscure cinereous, thickly dusted with white on costal half. Lines obsolete, the inner represented by three black dots, the upper and lower of which are very small, the middle one more outwardly placed; outer line indicated by an outward blackish shade, curved, regular and even. Discal dots black, joined into a large spot in the male, narrowly separated in the female. Hind wings whitish, gray tinted along costa and outer edge. Expanse 15-16 mm... Nearly allied to Homceosoma mucidellum Rag. but smaller, smoother cinereous, the outer line very vague and slightly curved, discal dots approximated or fused..." - Dyar, 1904:112
Genitalia:

Range
Eastern North America
Food
Flowers of Packera obovata* (Running Groundsel), Cirsium horridulum (Yellow Thistle), Pyrrhopappus carolinianus (Carolina Desert-chicory), Sonchus asper (Spiny-leaved Sow-thistle), Sonchus oleracea (Common Sow-thistle), Lactuca canadensis (Tall Lettuce) (Mass Moths)
Remarks
Heinrich (1956:226) treated reliquellum and mucidella as subspecies of Rotruda mucidella (Ragonot, 1887). Neunzig (1997) elevated mucidella and reliquellum to species status. Scholtens & Solis (2015)(3) follows Neunzig (1997).
As of 2016, DNA barcoding at BOLD does not seem to be able to differentiate between reliquellum and mucidella. Neunzig (1997) does not appear to explain why he overturned Heinrich (1956). In separating the two species, he mentions distribution and morphological differences which Heinrich apparently considered superficial. Heinrich noted variation in genitalia but found the variations were not confined to particular populations.
See Also
Phycitodes mucidella was considered a western species until the 2023 synonymy mentioned above. It was described as averaging larger with forewings more heavily dusted with white and more contrasting black scales. (2)
Print References
Dyar, H. G. 1904. Additions to the list of North American Lepidoptera. No. 2. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 6 (2): 112.
Heinrich, 1956:226
Neunzig, H.H., 1997. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 15.4. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation (2)
Internet References
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5) (Phycitodes reliquellus)
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5) (Phycitodes reliquella)
Works Cited
1.American moths of the subfamily Phycitinae
Carl Heinrich. 1956. United States National Museum Bulletin 207: 1-581.
2.The Moths of North America north of Mexico. Fascicle 15.4. Pyraloidea, Pyralidae, Phycitinae (part)
H. H. Neunzig. 1997. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
3.Annotated check list of the Pyraloidea (Lepidoptera) of America North of Mexico
Scholtens, B.G., Solis, A.M. 2015. ZooKeys 535: 1–136. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.535.6086.
4.North American Moth Photographers Group
5.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems