| Epermenia imperialella | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Epermeniidae |
| Genus: | Epermenia |
| Species: | E. imperialella |
| Binomial name | |
| Epermenia imperialella Busck, 1906 | |
Epermenia imperialella is a moth in the family Epermeniidae. It was described by August Busck in 1906. [1] It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Manitoba, Alberta, Iowa and Pennsylvania. [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.
Epermeniidae or the fringe-tufted moths is a family of insects in the lepidopteran order with about 14 genera. Previously they have been divided in two subfamilies Epermeniinae and Ochromolopinae but this is no longer maintained since the last group is probably hierarchically nested within the first. They are presently placed in their own superfamily but have previously been placed among the Yponomeutoidea or Copromorphoidea with which they share some features. Their systematic placement among the apoditrysian group "Obtectomera" is however uncertain. They show some morphological similarities to the "plume moths", for example the wing fringe has similar groups of scales. There are also some similarities to Schreckensteinioidea, for example spiny legs and at least in some species an open-network cocoon. The genus Thambotricha from New Zealand may be the sister group of all other extant members. The most important genera are Epermenia, Ochromolopis and Gnathifera. The group has been extensively revised and catalogued by Dr Reinhard Gaedike.
August Busck was a Danish entomologist who became an American citizen. Busck was an employee of the Bureau of Entomology within USDA. He is best known for his work with microlepidoptera, of which he described over 600 species. His collections of Lepidoptera from North America and the Panama Canal Zone are held by the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
The wingspan is 13–18 mm. [4] The forewings are light yellow, overlaid with reddish ochreous on the costal and apical part. On the middle of the wing is an ill-defined broad oblique darker greyish ochreous fascia, widest at the costal edge, gradually narrowing to the dorsal edge, which it reaches at the basal third. It is there continued into a dark ochreous dorsal scale tuft. The reddish coloration increases in intensity towards the apex. The hindwings are dark bronzy fuscous. [5]
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).
