| Chionodes nanodella | |
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| Species: | C. nanodella |
| Binomial name | |
| Chionodes nanodella (Busck, 1910) | |
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Chionodes nanodella is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. [1] It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from California. [2] [3]
Moths comprise a group of insects related to butterflies, belonging to the order Lepidoptera. Most lepidopterans are moths, and there are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of which have yet to be described. Most species of moth are nocturnal, but there are also crepuscular and diurnal species.
The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable dispute. These are generally very small moths with narrow, fringed wings. The larvae of most species feed internally on various parts of their host plants, sometimes causing galls. Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga) is a host plant common to many species of the family, particularly of the genus Chionodes, which as a result is more diverse in North America than usual for Gelechioidea.
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered by some to be a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.
The wingspan is about 14 mm. The forewings are whitish ochreous, partly obscured by black, brown and dark fuscous scales. The pattern is obscure and ill-defined, consisting of two oblique dark streaks on the basal third of the wing in the cell and a blackish costal spot just before the apical third, preceding a light ochreous costal spot, which is the start and most apparent part of an indistinct, narrow, outwardly angulated ochreous fascia. The hindwings are light ochreous fuscous. [4]
The wingspan of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777-200 has a wingspan of 60.93 metres, and a wandering albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 metres, the official record for a living bird. The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc., and other fixed-wing aircraft such as ornithopters. In humans, the term wingspan also refers to the arm span, which is distance between the length from one end of an individual's arms to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90º angle. Former professional basketball player Manute Bol stands at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) and owns one of the largest wingspans at 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m).
The larvae feed on Phacelia distans , Eriogonum latifolius , Eriogonum parvifolium and Lupinus species, including Lupinus arboreus .
Phacelia distans is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common names distant phacelia and distant scorpionweed. It is native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, where it grows in many types of habitat, including forest, woodland, chaparral, grassland, and meadows.
Eriogonum parvifolium is a species in the Polygonaceae family that occurs on dune formations in the coastal area of Central and Southern California. This evergreen shrub grows to a height of 30 to 100 centimeters with a spread of approximately the same dimension. This plant is an important host for a number of pollinating insects including certain endangered species. E. parvifolium occurs both on bluffs along the Pacific Ocean coast as well as Coastal Strand dunes formations, but is restricted to altitudes below 700 meters. In at least one instance within the Carbonera Creek watershed, it occurs farther inland in a Maritime Coast Range Ponderosa Pine forest. This shrub is also known by the common names dune buckwheat, coast buckwheat, cliff buckwheat, or seacliff buckwheat.
Lupinus, commonly known as lupin or lupine, is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 200 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Smaller centers occur in North Africa and the Mediterranean. They are widely cultivated, both as a food source and as ornamental plants, although in New Zealand's South Island, introduced lupins are viewed as a severe environmental threat.
