Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
None
Size
7 to 8 mm long. Wingspan 13 to 17 mm.
Identification
Head: Dark yellowish, long haired (scaled). Palpi long, folded; pale yellow, brown and tufted on underside.
Antenna: About half as long as wing, slender. Ringed brown and yellow.
Thorax: Pale yellow, sides brownish.
Wings: Slightly rounded, almost squarish at tips. Dark brown with pale lace-like yellowish marks. Inner margin edge pale yellowish with three triangles – 1 at base, one just before mid-wing and 1 at anal angle. Transverse, wide dark brown stripe extends to costal margin at mid-wing. Costal margin has long yellowish patch along base. Outer half of the wing is variable in amount of pale yellowish lace-like marks. Fringe checkered, short; double brown interrupted line through fringe. Hindwings wide, pale gray; one or two costal dots; fringe same color with brown double line through.
Legs: All segments brown with yellowish tips. Long spurs.
Abdomen: Yellowish-brown.
Range
U.S. east of Mississippi; Ontario to east coast.
Life Cycle
Debris, fungus, rotting animal and vegetable matter.
Remarks
Types:
Paralectotypes (8) Scardiella approximatella by Dietz, 1905. MCZ #2889. Locality: New Jersey, Pennsylvania. In Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Paralectotype male and female designated by Robinson in 1986 in United States National Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D. C.
Internet References
Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 1905, Vol. 31, pp. 27 to 28 by Dietz.
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1989-92, Vol. 152, pg. 50 by Miller and Hodges.
