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Photo#386541
Yellow moth - Oinophila v-flava

Yellow moth - Oinophila v-flava
Alameda County, California, USA
April 18, 2010
Size: ~2.5-3 mm, not measured
Afternoon; flushed from leaf litter, probably, while gardening. The moth flew to a nearby vertical surface and perched on it near the ground. Size estimate is nose to wingtips.

Images of this individual: tag all
Yellow moth - Oinophila v-flava Yellow moth - Oinophila v-flava

Moved
Moved from Moths.

probably #434 – Oinophila v-flava
.

 
Confirmation would still be useful
I found a page for Oinophila v-flavum (note spelling difference), but there's only one image, which shows a darker and perhaps smaller moth.

 
not sure what the correct spelling is...
These are pretty common around my area and I've noticed that because the wing scales are so reflective on this moth, photographing it at different angles can make it appear a range of colors from a golden tan to a near brown-black. I'm not sure why bugguide only has one photo, seems vastly under-represented... MPG has a few more examples. I cannot find any similarly marked species in the Tineid plates in Powell and Opler; Nonetheless, it never hurts to hear what BP has to say.

 
0434 - Oinophila v-flava
...until contradicted by an expert. This looks like a dead match for E. Fiesler's moth at MPG and reasonably like the dorsal view photos by others in California. I don't know of any similar species.

Flava amd flavum are the same thing except for Latin gender ending. MPG, many modern authors, and the entire world [should] follow original author's spelling instead of the ICZN rule requiring gender of species to match that of genus. There is a revolt underway in opposition to the ICZN rule which, it is to be hoped, they will do away with.

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