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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths (Pyraloidea) » Pyralid Moths (Pyralidae) » Phycitinae » Phycitini » Cactus-Feeding Group » Pricklypear Borer (Melitara) » Melitara subumbrella - Hodges#5973 (Melitara subumbrella)

Species Melitara subumbrella - Hodges#5973

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Moth - Melitara subumbrella - male Moth - Melitara subumbrella - male Pyralid moth - Melitara subumbrella Bright sapphire blue and navy blue banded caterpillar - Melitara subumbrella Melitara subumbrella Melitara subumbrella Moth - Melitara subumbrella Moth, spread - Melitara subumbrella
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 Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Pyralidae (Pyralid Moths)
Subfamily Phycitinae
Tribe Phycitini
No Taxon (Cactus-Feeding Group)
Genus Melitara (Pricklypear Borer)
Species subumbrella (Melitara subumbrella - Hodges#5973)
Hodges Number
5973
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Melitara subumbrella (Dyar, 1925)
Olyca subumbrella Dyar, 1925
Olycella nephelepasa (Dyar, 1928)
Olycella subumbrella, (Heinrich, 1939)
Size
Wingspan 35-52 mm.
Identification
Larvae are white with pale purple cross-bands.(1)
Range
Southern Alberta and Saskatchewan to southern Arizona and central Texas.
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Type locality: Carlsbad, NM.
Habitat
Dry desert.
Season
The main flight period is March to October. (2)
Food
Larval host is Opuntia spp. (prickly-pear cacti).(1)
Life Cycle
Eggs are deposited in a stick shaped pile on cactus pods and fruits. The larvae bore into the pads where they complete the life cycle. (1)
See Also
Melitara junctolineella
Print References
Dyar, H.G., 1925. Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus, 13: 14.
Dyar, H.G., 1928. Notes on cactus moths allied to Melitara, with two new genera and one new species. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 30: 134. (3)
Heinrich, C., 1939. The cactus-feeding Phycitinae: A contribution toward a revision of the American pyralidoid moths of the family Phycitidae. Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 86: 347. (4)
Neunzig, H.H., 1997. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 15.4. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation. p. 58; pl. 3, figs. 19-20, 34.(1)
Internet References
Simonsen & Brown, Cactus Moths and their relatives
Moth Photographers Group (2)
University of Alberta E. H. Strickland Entomological Museum
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (5)
Works Cited
1.The Moths of North America north of Mexico. Fascicle 15.4. Pyraloidea, Pyralidae, Phycitinae (part)
H. H. Neunzig. 1997. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.Notes on cactus moths allied to Melitara, with two new genera and one new species
Harrison G. Dyar. 1928. Proceedings of The Entomological Society of Washington, 30: 133-137.
4.The cactus-feeding Phycitinae: A contribution toward a revision of the American Pyralidoid moths of the family Phycitidae
Carl Heinrich. 1939. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 86(3053): 331-413.
5.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Maury J. Heiman on 5 February, 2013 - 11:37am
Additional contributions by Steve Nanz
Last updated 8 December, 2019 - 5:00am

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