Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Agonopterix pteleae Barnes & Busck, 1920
Size
10 to 12 mm long. Wingspan 20-22 mm.
Identification
Wings: Unmistakable rough, raised hair-like scales over wings (may be absent on over-wintered moths). Forewings light yellowish-brown, with patchy, mottled black and dark brown rough, raised scales. Base more whitish-yellow, outer border lined with brown. Large, rounded spot at 2/3 wing length (discal cell), covers from outer margin to center of wing. No white scales. Series of uneven dark dots and marks along costa and wing tip. Fringe yellowish-brown. Hindwing yellowish-brown, base and fringe lighter.
Habitat
Forest edges with sandy soils, lake shores.
Season
March to September in the south, Late May to Sept. in the north.
Food
Hoptree Ptelea trifoliata.
Life Cycle
Larvae of A. pteleae and A. costimacula both feed on Hoptree Ptelea trifoliata.
Both are pale green with no black markings or pinacula (dark spots bearing hair) on the body, but may have a blackish mark on side of head (absent to prominent). Larvae turn reddish-pink before pupating.
Both species over-winter as adults, with at least two generations or more per year.
Remarks
Type:
Holotype Agonopterix pteleae by Barnes & Busch, 1920. #22666. Type Locality: Decatur, Illinois. In the United States National Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D. C.
Note: Two specimens from Rockford, Ill (Collector O. H. S.) are larger and darker than the types in Smithsonian. A fine, large bred series from Hoptree together with A. nigrinotella Busck, [error – nigrinotella feeds only on Prickly Ash Zanthoxylum americana] by Dr. J. H. McDunnough in Smithsonian.
Print References
Hodges, R.W., 1974.
The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 6.2. E. W. Classey Ltd. and RBD Publications Inc., p. 25; pl. 1.22-23.
(1)
Contributions to the Lepidoptera of North America, 1920, Vol. 4, #3, by Barnes & Busck, pp. 231 to 232.
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923, Memoir #68 by Forbes.
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 1942, Vol. 90, pp. 72 to 74 by Clarke.
Ohio Journal of Science, 1995, Vol. 95, #3 by Metzler and Zebold.
Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 2005, Vol. 107, #1, by Harrison and Berenbaum, pp. 162 to 175.
Ministry of Natural Resources Ontario Recovery Strategy Series, 2013: Common Hoptree Ptelea trifoliata.
