Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Species Dichomeris ligulella - Palmerworm Moth - Hodges#2281

Representative Images

Unknown Micromoth - Dichomeris ligulella Moth #2 - Dichomeris ligulella Brown Dichomeris sp.? - Dichomeris ligulella unknown moth - Dichomeris ligulella unknown moth - Dichomeris ligulella Dichomeris ligulella Moth 2 - Dichomeris ligulella Dichomeris ligulella
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 ligulella (Palmerworm Moth - Hodges#2281)

Hodges Number

2281

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Dichomeris ligulella Hübner, 1818
Chaetochilus contubernalellus Fitch, 1853 (1)
Rhinocera pometella Harris, 1853 (1)
Chaetochilus malifoliellus Fitch, 1854 (1)
Ypsolophus pauciguttellus Clemens, 1863 (1)
Ypsolophus flavivittellus Clemens, 1864 (1)
Ypsolophus reedella Chambers, 1872 (1)
Ypsolophus quercipominella Chambers, 1872 (1)

Size

Wingspan 15-18 mm. (2)

Identification

Adult - forewing elongate. Dimorphic: forewing brown in one morph, blackish with cream-colored costal streak in the other. Hindwing bluish-gray, translucent.

This dimorphism was previously (until 2020) described as being sexual here, an error replicated in Peterson’s guides and probably elsewhere. This is not accurate, and it is unclear how the misconception originated.

(3), (2)

Range

Records from the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada, Texas. (4), (5), (6), (7)

Season

Adults fly year round in the south. (4)
In northern states, adults appear in July and August.(8)

Food

Larval hosts include apple, hackberry, hazel, oak, basswood and cherry. Larvae skeletonize leaves and sometimes fold or roll them when feeding. (2)

Life Cycle

Overwinters as an adult. Lays single eggs in the spring.
Eggs are laid on the underside of leaves. The larvae feed and skeletonize the leaves either openly or in folded/rolled leaves. Pupation occurs in these rolls or in the ground litter.(8)
Overwinter as adults.(8)

Print References

Beadle, D. & S. Leckie 2012. Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin. p.66-67 (preview) (3)
Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Company. p.437, pl.64.6 (2)
Hodges, R.W. 1986. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 7.1. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, p.33; pl.1.1-7 (9)

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (4)
Moths of North Dakota
Forest Pests
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (10)

Works Cited

1.Checklist of Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) in America North of Mexico
Lee S., Hodges R.W., Brown R.L. 2009. Zootaxa 2231: 1–39.
2.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
3.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
4.North American Moth Photographers Group
5.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.
6.Lepidoptera of the Archbold Biological Station, Highlands County, Florida
Marc C. Minno. 1992. Florida Entomologist 75: 297-329.
7.Moths of Brackenridge Field Laboratory University of Texas at Austin
8.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.
9.The Moths of America North of Mexico: Fascicle 7.1, Revision of North American Gelechiidae family and...
Hodges, R. W. 1986. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
10.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 24 November, 2005 - 7:05pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Maury Heiman, ceiseman, Robert Lord Zimlich, Randy Hardy, Marci Hess, Blocky
Last updated 3 September, 2023 - 1:07pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact