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Species Semioscopis merriccella - Hodges#913

Heterocera 06 - Semioscopis merriccella Semioscopis merriccella Pennsylvania Moth  - Semioscopis merriccella Semioscopis merriccella Depressariidae: Semioscopis merriccella - Semioscopis merriccella Semioscopis - Semioscopis merriccella Pennsylvania Moth - Semioscopis merriccella Pennsylvania Moth  - Semioscopis merriccella
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 Depressariidae
Subfamily Depressariinae
Genus Semioscopis
Species merriccella (Semioscopis merriccella - Hodges#913)
Hodges Number
913
Size
wingspan 11-15 mm
Identification
forewing light brownish-gray with sinuous black line running longitudinally from a point below the base to the end of the cell, and darker brownish shading distal to the hook-shaped end of this line (basal portion of line thick; distal curved portion of line thinner); terminal line composed of several black dashes
hindwing uniformly light gray with long fringe scales
Range
apparently widespread but distribution patchy and not well known; Internet records from California, Illinois, Maryland, Ontario
Season
adults fly in spring
Food
unknown, as of February 2006
See Also
In Packard's Concealer Moth (Semioscopis packardella), the black sinuous line extends to base of wing [in merriccella, the line stops short of base of wing]
S. mcdunnoughi has been recorded from Colorado and Washington (see map) but no images of this species were found on the Internet as of February 2006
Internet References
live adult image plus description and flight season (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
pinned adult image by Jim Vargo, and comparison images of similar species (Moth Photographers Group)
live adult images by various photographers, and comparison images of similar species (Moth Photographers Group)
presence in California; list (U. of California at Berkeley)
presence in Illinois; list (Illinois State Museum)