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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Twirler Moths and kin (Gelechioidea) » Twirler Moths (Gelechiidae) » Dichomeridinae » Dichomeris » Bilobed Dichomeris - Hodges#2291 (Dichomeris bilobella)

Species Dichomeris bilobella - Bilobed Dichomeris - Hodges#2291

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Dichomeris bilobella Illinois Data Point - Dichomeris bilobella Dichomeris bilobella bilobed dichomeris - Dichomeris bilobella Dichomeris furia? - Dichomeris bilobella Bilobed Dichomeris - Dichomeris bilobella Dichomeris bilobella Gelechiidae, Bilobed Dichomeris - Dichomeris bilobella
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 bilobella (Bilobed Dichomeris - Hodges#2291)
Hodges Number
2291
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Dichomeris bilobella (Zeller, 1873)
Gelechia bilobella Zeller, 1873
Phylogenetic sequence # 070450
Size
Wingspan about 15 mm.
Larva length to about 17 mm.
Identification
Adult - forewing dark gray to blackish with large pale brownish-yellow patch extending from base along costa, then crossing wing to inner margin in PM area; dark basal coloring along inner margin is constricted in AM area, then expands to form two rounded lobes in median area; reniform spot black, shaped like a bow-tie; PM line brownish-yellow, usually noticeable; subterminal line composed of several pale dots; hindwing pale gray with wide fringe.
Range
Eastern North America; Alberta, Saskatchewan, and California. (1), (2)
Season
The adults are most common from May to August. (1), (3), (4)
Larvae present from spring to July. (4)
Food
The larvae feed on leaves of goldenrod (Solidago spp.) and aster. (4), (5)
Life Cycle
Eggs are laid on hostplant in summer but do not hatch until the following spring; young larvae spin a silken web on leaves of host; older larvae pinch or fold leaves together to form a retreat; one generation per year; overwinters as an egg. (4)
See Also
Dichomeris ochripalpella - forewing has metallic silvery patch instead of a cream-colored one, and a sharp "tooth" that projects toward inner margin in AM area.
Print References
Beadle, D. & S. Leckie, 2012. Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin. p. 66 (preview). (5)
Hodges, R.W., 1986. The Moths of America North of Mexico: Fascicle 7.1, Revision of North American Gelechiidae family and its three subfamilies, p. 90, pl. 2, figs. 25-26 (6)
Loeffler, C.C., 1996. Caterpillar leaf folding as a defense against predation and dislodgment: Staged encounters using Dichomeris (Gelechiidae) larvae on Goldenrods. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society, 50(3): 245. (4)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (1)
presence in Ontario; list as Trichotaphe bilobella (NHIC; Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (7) (7)
Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA) (3)
Works Cited
1.North American Moth Photographers Group
2.Oklahoma moth species list by county (PDF)
3.Butterflies of North America
4.Caterpillar leaf folding as a defense against predation and dislodgment: Staged encounters using Dichomeris (Gelechiidae) larvae
Carol C. Loeffler. 1996. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 50(3): 245-260.
5.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
6.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.
7.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 1 August, 2006 - 7:19am
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy
Last updated 20 August, 2013 - 8:31am

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