Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Mesophleps adustipennis (Walsingham, 1897) (in Landry & Roque-Albelo, 2010)
Lathontogenus adustipennis Walsingham, 1897
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Lipatia crotalariella Busck, 1910, described from Trinidad, is a junior synonym of Mesophleps adustipennis (Walsingham, 1897)
Mesophleps palpigera (Walsingham, 1891) (Gelechia; long placed in Brachyacma) is African
Brachyacma epichorda Turner, 1919 is a junior synonym of Mesophleps epiochra (Meyrick, 1886) (Brachyacma), which is Asian and Australian
Mesophleps ioloncha (Meyrick, 1905) (Paraspistes) is Asian
Phylogenetic sequence #420500
Explanation of Names
Specific epithet from Latin meaning "scorched wings."
Size
Landry & Roque-Albelo (2010) report the forewing as length 4.4-8.1 mm.
Identification
From Wikipedia: "The forewings are greyish white to yellowish brown, the distal three-fifths of the costa lined with a dark brown stripe, interrupted by an oblique pale line running from the distal fifth towards the termen."
Range
M. adustipennis is known only from the New World, from the southern USA south into Brazil, and from the Caribbean. Li and Sattler
(2), p. 28, state that "it is not clear whether it really is an element of the native American fauna or an Old World introduction. It could have been inadvertently carried to the New World from India or Africa with some agricultural plant such as pigeon pea or
Crotalaria. However, we have not been able to identify clear Old World
adustipennis."
Food
Landry & Roque-Albelo (2010) report the larvae have been reared from the fruits of
white leadtree (
Leucaena leucocephala) and mesquite (
Prosopis).
Print References
Landry, B. & Roque-Albelo, L. 2010. The Gelechiidae (Lepidoptera) of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, a taxonomic revision.
Revue Suisse de Zoologie 117(4):
739
Walsingham, Lord. 1897. Revision of the West-Indian microlepidoptera: with descriptions of new species.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1897:
88.
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