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

Aaron Hunt, Contributing Editor
Full name:
Aaron Hunt
City, state, country:
Block Island, Rhode Island
Biography:

I am interested in receiving any specimens of Donacaula as well as miscellaneous smaller micromoths, especially Gelechioidea, for identification. Taxa of interest include Gelechioidea: Gelechia, Chionodes, Filatima, Gnorimoschema, Anacampsis, Isophrictis, Monochroa, Chrysopeleiinae, Melanocinclis, Stathmopoda; Tineoidea: Niditinea, Myrmecozelinae; Pyraloidea: Eumysia, Lipographis; undescribed species of Tinea (Tineoidea: Tineidae), Eudarcia (Tineoidea: Meessiidae); various enigmatic Gelechioidea and Tineoidea; and the species shown below

Have you seen this moth?

I have listed below enigmatic and rare moth species, all unidentifiable to varying degrees and most likely undescribed. At least some likely have never been collected and will remain taxonomically mysterious until someone obtains a specimen. If you encounter one of these species, please capture the specimen for study and contact me! I have ordered the species here geographically so you can focus on learning to recognize only the species you have the greatest odds of seeing where you live.

California

[gelechiine] [gelechiine 1, 2] [gelechioid] [gelechioid] [gracillariid] [orange, black, and silver gelechioid 1, 2] [unknown] [black high alpine diurnal moth] [red and white eucosmine]

Arizona

[pyraloid] [tischeriid? 1, 2]

Florida (mainly South FL)

[, 1] [opostegid] [complete unknown] [gelechioid 1, 2] [gracillariid 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 — s. TX, 6 — s. TX]

Texas and Oklahoma

[, 1, MEX]
[, 1, 2, 3] [ only two others known: 1, 2]
[ only one other known: 1] [, 1, 2, 3]
[unknown gracillariid] [Neotropical Petrophila] [crambid] [gracillariid] [ornixoline]

Southeast US



Northeast US and Canada

Possible elachistid

Misc.



Of lesser interest: Gelechiini Gen. sp.





If you're not sure how to do something on BugGuide, the answer may be in my video series on using this site.

I have been the main curator of moth images on BugGuide since about 2018. I move thousands of images a year and often don't subscribe to them, so I don't receive email notification of subsequent comments on them. If you think I've made an error or have a question, feel free to email me about it. I tend to be most active on BugGuide in the winter, when I clear backlogs of unidentified images, but I have visited BugGuide nearly every day for the last seven years. I have made a document that tracks my progress in curating images of adult moths since early April 2023.

To aid BugGuide users in identifying their own images of moths, I have put together several guides to easily confused but unrelated moths. I have also added guides to identification within a number of taxa on info pages.

Want to know where to add your images of unidentified moths so I will see them but won't have to unnecessarily move them without providing a better identification than what you already have? When in doubt, post to Lepidoptera. If you are confident in a genus-level identification and see that there are a lot of unidentified images in that genus, you should place the image there. I should eventually see it when I work on curating the genus. However, there are far too many genus pages for me to check regularly, so it is generally inadvisable to post images to them if you think I might be able to identify them to species. In such cases, and if you are not confident in a genus-level identification, it is best to post your images to the following pages:

Tineoidea
Post images of Tineidae to family only.

Gracillarioidea
Unidentified Gracillariidae should be placed to family or, if known, subfamily or genus. I can't identify most to species. If you are unsure whether a moth is a gracillariid or a Bucculatrix, place to Lepidoptera, not Gracillarioidea.

Gelechioidea
Place unidentified gelechiids to family; scythridids to family; depressariines to subfamily, not family; blastobasids to subfamily, not family; and coleophorids to genus, not subfamily or family. Place all other unidentified images to superfamily.

Pterophoroidea
Place unidentified images to family or, for anywhere except South Florida, to subfamily.

Tortricoidea
Place unidentified images to subfamily, which can usually be identified readily, or to family if you aren't sure about subfamily. Place to tribe if known; I check all frequently.

Zygaenoidea
Place unidentified images to family.

Pyraloidea
Place unidentified images to subfamily if known; identification to this level is usually easy. Each family page has a visual guide to subfamilies to help.

Geometroidea
Place unidentified geometrids to subfamily if known; identification to this level is usually easy. The family page has a visual guide to the subfamilies. Otherwise, place to family, not superfamily.

Noctuoidea
Place unidentified erebids to subfamily or lower, notodontids to family, euteliids and nolids to the order page, and noctuids to family.

For superfamilies not listed here, place unidentified images to Lepidoptera.



[Personal BugGuide firsts; have not updated in years]

Apparent new continental record:


Otiorhynchus crataegi

Apparent new state records:

Coleoptera:

Otiorhynchus singularis, Ischyrus quadripunctatus, Cyclocephala borealis, Notoxus planicornis, Megalodacne fasciatus, Odonteus sp., Cymindis neglecta, Berosus aculeatus, Contacyphon "sp. 2", Sapintus pusillus, Pentaria trifasciata, Donacia proxima, Oedophrys hilleri, Nicagus obscurus, Trachyphloeus sp., Trox capillaris, Cafius aguayoi, Belonuchus sp., Omophron labiatum, Cregya oculata, Perapion curtirostre, Tachyusa sp., Bembidion impotens, Stenocrepis duodecimstriata, Clivina acuducta

Trichoptera:

Oxyethira forcipata, Oxyethira zeronia, Platycentropus radiatus, Limnephilus ornatus, Oecetis inconspicua, Oecetis cinerascens, Triaenodes aba, Plectrocnemia crassicornis, Agrypnia vestita, Banksiola concatenata, Ptilostomis ocellifera, Ptilostomis angustipennis, Plectrocnemia remota, Molanna ulmerina

Diptera:

Leptocera erythrocera, Ostracophyto flavicaudis, Opacifrons maculifrons

Hymenoptera:

Compsobraconoides sp.

Hemiptera:

Melanaethus robustus

New arthropods for the guide:

Chelicerata:

Pantopoda:

Callipallene brevirostris

Hexapoda:

Oxyethira forcipata, Contarinia undescribed sp., Stigmella myricafoliella, Donacia proxima, Psorosina hammondi, Ateloglossa sp., Mesites subcyljndricus, Hypocharassus pruinosus, Nanomyina barbata, Thinophilus prasinus, Elipsocus pumilis, Melanotus sagittarius, Oxyethira zeronia, Compsobraconoides sp., Trioxys sp., Aleiodes aciculatus, Glabellula crassicornis, Melanaethus robustus, Amoebaleria sackeni, Oecothea specus, Dimecoenia spinosa, Homoneura imitatrix, Banksiola concatenata, Ptilostomis angustipennis, Oecetis osteni, Plectrocnemia remota, Apamea inebriata, Sarcophaga johnsoni

Crustacea:

Diplostraca:

Penilia avirostris, Podon leuckartii

Calanoida:

Calanidae Gen. sp., Acartia sp.

Poecilostomatoida (new order for the guide):

Sapphirina sp., Oncaea sp.

Sessilia:

Coronula diadema

Lepadiformes (new order):

Conchoderma auritum

Decapoda:

Polyonyx gibbesi, Pinnixa chaetopterana, Dyspanopeus sayi, Palaemonetes vulgaris, Palaemonetes pugio

Amphipoda:

Calliopius laeviusculus, Caprella mutica, Aeginina longicornis, Monocorophium cylindricum, Crangonyx gracilis, Gammarus mucronatus, Gammarus locusta, Jassa marmorata, Ericthonius rubricornis, Americorchestia longicornis, Platorchestia platensis, Unciola sp., Haustorius canadensis, Amphiporeia virginiana, Phronima sp.

Isopoda:

Idotea metallica, Sphaeroma sp.

Tanaidacea:

Tanais dulongii, Leptochelia rapax