Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Antaeotricha humilis (Zeller, 1855)
Cryptolechia humilis, Cryptolechia nubeculosa, Harpalyce canusella, Ide canusella, Stenoma humilis
Size
4 to 5 mm long. Wingspan 12 mm.
Identification
Very tiny for a Bird-Dropping Moth. Wings long and usually folded around body; brownish-gray with varying amounts of whitish flecks. Males usually appear lighter. Three evenly spaced, slanted marks along outer (costal) margin; the first streak is broken, with a large spot in the middle of streak; the last streak near wing tip much narrower and joined to a faint subterminal line. Dark, thick inverted V or U shape just before mid-wing near inner margin; another thick dark dot below with continued vague, curved shading to inner margin. Wing tip has series of dark dots. Fringe slightly darker than wing color.
Range
Maryland to Texas. Recorded in s. w. Ontario since 2013; not on Pohl list for Ontario or Canada.
Types:
Holotype as Cryptolechia humilis female by Zeller, 1855. Type Locality: South Carolina. In the Altes (Royal) Museum, Berlin, Germany (per Zeller).
Holotype as Cryptolechia nubeculosa by Zeller, 1873. Type Locality: Texas. In the British Museum of Natural History, London, England.
Holotype as Harpalyce canusella by Chambers, 1874. Type Locality: Texas. Classed as a pseudotype by Brown et.al in Zootaxa #510, 2004. In the United States National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.
Syntype as Harpalyce canusella by Chambers, 1874. Type Locality: Texas. In the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Type #1415.
Season
May to June; August to September
Food
Oak (Quercus species). prefers White and Northern Red Oak Quercus alba & rubra
The larva is a leaf tier on oak. [comment by Terry Harrison]
Life Cycle
Larvae silk leaves together, skeletonizing leaf surface while hidden inside their tent. Larva also pupate inside the tent. Two generations per year.
Remarks
BINs AT BOLD associated with A. humilis as of 11/28/2020:
•
BOLD:AAA8714 - [48] widespread east of MI and AL - probably "true" humilis
•
BOLD:ABZ4627 - [3] OK, [2] northwest TX
•
BOLD:ABY9134 - [2] near Houston, TX
Print References
Linnaea entomologica, 1855, Vol. 10 by Zeller, pp. 156 to 157. Cryptolechia humilis
Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Zoologisch-Botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 1873, Vol. 23 by Zeller, pp. 245 to 246, pl. 3, fig. 12. Cryptolechia nebeculosa
The Canadian Entomologist, 1874, Vol. 6 #12 by Chambers, pg. 235. Harpalyce canusella
The Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History, 1879, Vol. 2 (Vol. 2 #4 Jan. 1880) by Chambers, pg. 180. Harpalyce changed to Ide.
Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 1882-83, Vol. 10 by Walsingham, pp. 175 to 176.
Insect Life 1889-1890, Vol. 2 by Walsingham, pg. 154. Stenoma humilis
Illinois Biological Monographs, 1915, Vol. 2 #1: Lepidopterous larvae by Fracker, pp. 81 to 82.
Contributions to the Natural History of the Lepidoptera of North America, 1917, Vol. 4 by Barnes & McDunnough, pg. 238. Stenoma humilis
Annals of the American Entomological Society, 1920, Vol. 13 by Dozier, pg. 347 and 379. Food.
Cornell University Agriculture Experimental Station, 1923 Memoir #68 by Forbes, pp. 233 to 253. Stenoma humilis
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 1966, Vol. 116 by Duckworth, pp. 37 to 38. Antaeotricha humilis.
