Species Thaumatopsis fernaldella - Fernald's Grass-veneer - Hodges#5441

5441

Thaumatopsis fernaldella Kearfott, 1905

The wingspan averages 20-31 mm.

Forbes (1920) listed a wingspan of 20 mm.

Kearfott, 1905 described the species from sixteen specimens from the following locations: Anglesea [North Wildwood], NJ; Key West, FL; Las Cruces, NM; "Walter's St."[?], CA; Yellowstone Park, WY; Fort Collins, CO; "South Utah". Kearfott noted that the single specimen he examined from Key West differed from the others and was "included with a question mark" in his description.

Barnes and McDunnough, 1913 described Thaumatopsis floridella from South Florida and noted, "The specimen from Key West doubtfully referred to fernaldella by Kearfott… is probably this species."

Forbes, 1920 listed Thaumatopsis pexella[/us], gibsonella [listed by Hodges, 1983 as a subspecies of T. pexellus, T. p. gibsonella], edonis, and daeckella [=solutellus] as occurring in the vicinity of New York, with fernaldella "A western species reported doubtfully from Anglesea, New Jersey, and from Florida."

The main flight period appears to be April to September.(1),(2)

Forbes, W.T.M. 1920. The Lepidopteras of New York and neighboring states, primitive forms Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces. Cornell University. Agricultural Experiment Station. Memoir 68. 594.

Barnes, W. M. & J. H. McDunnough 1913. Some apparently new Lepidoptera from southern Florida. –Contributions to the Natural History of the Lepidoptera of North America. 2(4): 177; pl. 2. fig. 9.

Kearfott, W.D. 1905. Assiniboia Micro-Lepidoptera, collected by Mr. T.N. Willing. The Canadian Entomologist. 37: 121. (3)

Moth Photographers Group (2)

University of Alberta, E.H. Strickland Entomological Museum

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (1)