Species Acrolophus heppneri - Hodges#0355.1

0355.1

Acrolophus heppneri Davis, 1990 (1)

Species named in honor of John B. Heppner, who collected most of the specimens for the study. (1)

There are more than 53 species of the genus Acrolophus in America, north of Mexico. (2)

Davis (1990) reported the forewing length. (1)

♂ 4-5.5 mm.

♀ 5.5-9 mm.

A Gulf Coast species, similar in size to panamae, with the same little frills on the legs, but extremely plainly marked, basically looks entirely brown except for a dark discal spot in most photos:

The Davis (1990) original description is available in PDF. (1)

Paraphrased from the original description - Thorax: Pronotum uniformly light to medium brown; scales of tegula usually with pale gray to white apices. Forewing uniformly medium to dark brown (darker in male), with a pair of small, barely visible darker spots often present at base and apex of discal cell and usually more evident in lighter female; under low maginification most scales with pale bases and darker apices.

Texas to Florida. (3), (4), (2), (5)

Bahamas (5)

Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.

Heppner (2003) reported adults from February to December. (5)

Larval hosts include: (5), (1)

Lygodium microphyllum (Cav.) R. Br. (small-leaf climbing fern) Schizaeaceae.

Saccharum officinarum L. (sugarcane) Gramineae.

Compare on the pinned plates of Moth Photographers Group. (2)

Davis, D.R., 1990. Three new species of Acrolophus from the southeastern United States, with remarks on the status of the family Acrolophidae (Lepidoptera: Tineoidea). Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 92(4): 695. (1)

Moth Photographers Group (2)

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (6)