Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Twirler Moths and kin (Gelechioidea) » Momphid Moths (Momphidae) » Momphinae » Mompha

Genus Mompha

mating Mompha argentimaculella? - Mompha argentimaculella - male - female

Momphidae: Mompha unifasciella? - Mompha

Mompha murtfeldtella - Mompha albocapitella

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 Momphidae (Momphid Moths)

Subfamily Momphinae

Genus Mompha

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

placed in a separate family (Momphidae) by Nye and Fletcher, 1991

placed in family Coleophoridae, subfamily Momphinae by Hodges in Kristensen, 1999; this is the classification followed by All-Leps and BugGuide

Explanation of Names

Mompha Hübner, 1825

Numbers

45 species in North America listed at All-Leps

Identification

Adults - tiny, stout moths with thick, diverging, upward turned palpi, and unusually upraised scale rows on the forewing (1)

Larvae - stout, grublike, with fully functional thoratic legs (1)

Range

N. Amer., / Europe - Map (2)

Food

specialize on Onagraceae, the only Lepidopteran group to do so (1) It also feeds on members of a few other families, like Fabaceae, Melastomataceae, Rhamnaceae, etc. (Hosts)

Internet References

Illustrated Guide to Microlepidoptera - detailed descriptions with images of pinned adults and life cycles

classification history showing placement in family Momphidae by Nye and Fletcher, 1991, and placement in subfamily of Coleophoridae by Hodges in Kristensen, 1999 (Butterflies and Moths of the World)

Works Cited

1.	Moths of Western North America Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.

2.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

Contributed by Tony on 27 January, 2006 - 12:30pm
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Mike Quinn, Robert Lord Zimlich, Randy Hardy
Last updated 22 November, 2020 - 10:41pm

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