Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Possible 2026 BugGuide gathering in Texas?

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Species Rumatha bihinda - Hodges#5979

Representative Images

5979 - Rumatha bihinda Rumatha bihinda No.2 - Rumatha bihinda
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 Rumatha
Species bihinda (Rumatha bihinda - Hodges#5979)

Hodges Number

5979

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Rumatha bihinda (Dyar, 1922)
Zophodia bihinda Dyar, 1922

Size

Heinrich (1939) listed the wingspan 30-35 mm. (1)
Powell & Opler (2009) listed the forewing length 14.5-16 mm. (2)

Identification

Dyar (1922) original description as Zophodia bihinda is online in the print references.
Heinrich (1939)(1) and Heinrich (1956)(3) descriptions of the adult, including genitalia, are both in PDF.
Specimen determined by DNA analysis (BOLD). (4)

Range

Powell & Opler (2009) reported California to western Texas and Mexico. (2)
Holotype from Jemez Springs, Sandoval County, New Mexico. (1)

Season

Powell & Opler (2009) reported a flight period of May to August. (2)
Moth Photographers Group displays records for March and the latest of September. (5)

Food

Powell & Opler (2009) stated the larval host unknown but other members of the genus feed on Cylindropuntia chollas (cholla cactus). (2)

See Also

Rumatha jacumba has many reddish-brown scales in the forewing white costal patch and the length of the male palpi are about equal to the length of the head. The forewing white costal area of bihinda has few to no reddish-brown scales in the forewing white costal patch and the length of the male palpi are about 1.5x the length of the head. (6)

Print References

Dyar, H.G., 1922. Insecutor Inscitiae Menstruus, p. 173.
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(3053), p. 366; plates 27, 39, 48; figs. 14-14c, 54, 108-108a, 109-109a. (1)
Heinrich, C., 1956. American moths of the subfamily Phycitinae. United States National Museum Bulletin 207, p. 249; figs. 540, 1030. (3)
Neunzig, H.H., 1997. The Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 15.4. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, p. 75; pl. 2, fig. 10. (6)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009 Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, pl. 26, fig. 25; p. 196. (2)

Internet References

University of California, Berkeley
Moth Photographers Group (5)
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (4)
Moths of Southeastern Arizona (listed only) (7)
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin Texas (listed only)

Works Cited

1.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.
2.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
3.American moths of the subfamily Phycitinae
Carl Heinrich. 1956. United States National Museum Bulletin 207: 1-581.
4.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.The Moths of North America north of Mexico. Fascicle 15.4. Pyraloidea, Pyralidae, Phycitinae (part)
H. H. Neunzig. 1997. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
7.Moths of Southeast Arizona
Contributed by Maury J. Heiman on 10 April, 2014 - 11:51am
Additional contributions by Steve Morris
Last updated 2 May, 2023 - 9:14am

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2026 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

 Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact