Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Tebenna gnaphaliella (Kearfott, 1902)
Choreutis gnaphaliella Kearfott, 1902
(1)
Phylogenetic sequence #580024
Explanation of Names
Specific name from the host plant genus (
Gnaphalium) at the time of its description.
(1)
Common name is from the common name of the host plant (Everlasting).
Size
Wingspan about 7.5-8.5 mm.
(1) 5 mm long.
Identification
Easily confused with
Tebenna silphiella in the Midwest; similar to other congeners found in the West but with little overlap in range in CA, where
T. gnaphaliella is limited to the coast and Central Valley and other species occur at elevation and in interior deserts. Easily confused with
Pseudotebenna carduiella, a species of the coastal plain from TX to RI.
Larva - body dark shiny green, tapered at both ends, and lighter colored at each abdominal joint. See Fernald (1900), reprinted in Kearfott (1902), for Mary Murtfeldt's description of the larva and its habits.
(2),
(1)Range
Records from Illinois to Maine, south to Florida, west to east Texas, disjunct population in California.
(3)
Ontario - not listed in Pohl 2018.
Habitat
Adults often found on flowers of herbaceous plants.
Season
Late May to July; again in September to October in the north.
Food
Everlasting or Cudweed (Gnaphalium), Pussytoes (Antennaria).
Larvae mine the leaves of various asters (Asteraceae) including
Pseudognaphalium obtusifolium,
Pseudognaphalium helleri,
Anaphalis margaritacea and
Helichrysum spp. sometimes causing considerable damage to cultivated and ornamental plants.
(4),
(1)Life Cycle
Two generations per year. Larvae over-winter. Mine inside leaves when small, later transferring to outer leaf, feeding and pupating in groups inside a communally constructed web. 6 mm long.
Remarks
Types:
Lectotype as Choreutis gnaphaliella by Kearfott, 1902. Type Locality: Missouri. In the United States National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C. Type #6264.
Print References
Kearfott, W.D. 1902. A revision of the North American species of the genus
Choreutis.
Journal of The New York Entomological Society 10:
113 (1)
Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of natural History, 1915-17, Vol. 12 by Mosher, pg. 48.
Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923, Memoir #68 by Forbes, pp. 353 to 354.
Leafmining Insects, 1928 by Needham, pg. 292.
