Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Oidaematophorus mathewianus (Zeller, 1874)
Alucita mathewiana
Pterophorus mathewianus
Pterophorus gorgoniensis Grinnell, 1908
Pterophorus hilda Grinnell, 1908
Leioptilus mathewianus Zeller, 1874
Size
21-26 mm. wingspan. 10 to 13 mm long.
Identification
Male reddish-brown; female almost entirely white. Both vary greatly.
Wings: Female white with a few faint dark scales; sometimes a small dark mark on inner margin which may reach base of cleft or split in wings. Outer (costal) margin has a few to many sprinkles of light brown flecks.
Male pale brownish-red, with heavy dusting of white scales. Small dark brown spot 1/3 from base (discal cell), and another larger mark at base of cleft or spilt in wings, extending to inner margin. Outer (costal) margin has two black marks, separated by whitish near wing tip. Inner different.
Abdomen: Female white with a few darker scales. Male brownish-red, often darker down center, forming dots or squares with white scales along lower margin of segment sides.
Habitat
Forest edges and meadows.
Season
June to July; again September in s. w. Ontario.
Food
Yarrow Achillea millefolium leaves per Matthews.
Remarks
Types:
Holotype as Leioptilus mathewianus male by Zeller, 1874. Type Locality: British Columbia. In the British Museum of Natural History, London, England. Apparently there were 4 type specimens in British Museum, all in bad shape.
Holotype as Pterophorus gorgoniensis by Grinnell, 1908. Type Locality: California. In the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Riverside, California.
Holotype as Pterophorus hilda by Grinnell, 1908. Type Locality: California. In the Riverside Metropolitan Museum, Riverside, California.
Print References
Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-königlichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 1874, Vol. 24 by Zeller, pp. 445-447.
Pterophoridae in North America, 1898 by Fernald, pg. 45.
The Canadian Entomologist, 1908, Vol. 40 by Grinnell, pg. 318 & 320.
Contributions to the Natural History of Lepidoptera in North America, 1917, Vol. 4 by Barnes and McDunnough, pp. 383-384.
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923, Memoir #68 by Forbes, pg. 648.
The Canadian Entomologist, 1936, Vol. 68 by McDunnough, pp. 64-65.
