| Hellinsia paleaceus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Euarthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Pterophoridae |
| Genus: | Hellinsia |
| Species: | H. paleaceus |
| Binomial name | |
| Hellinsia paleaceus (Zeller, 1873) [1] | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Hellinsia paleaceus is a moth of the family Pterophoridae described by Philipp Christoph Zeller in 1873. It is found in North America, including Florida, Mississippi [2] Maryland, Montana, [3] Texas, California, Nebraska, New Mexico and south-eastern Canada. It has also been recorded from Puerto Rico.
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 Pterophoridae or plume moths are a family of Lepidoptera with unusually modified wings. Though they belong to the Apoditrysia like the larger moths and the butterflies, unlike these they are tiny and were formerly included among the assemblage called "microlepidoptera".
Philipp Christoph Zeller was a German entomologist.
The wingspan is 19–26 millimetres (0.75–1.02 in). Adults have been recorded from March to September. [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 Vernonia gigantea , Vernonia missurica , Vernonia noveboracensis , [5] Vernonia angustifolia , Vernonia blodgettii and Vernonia cinerea ( Cyanthillium cinereum ). [6] They feed on the young foliage of their host plant. Young larvae are dingy white, with a tinge of green. Later instars become pale glaucous, often varying, especially in the late fall brood, to dull salmon. Pupation takes place in a pupa with quite variable colour and markings. In the spring brood, it is commonly dull green, with indistinct yellow lateral stripes. In the fall brood, the dorsum is pale yellow or flesh color, with two fine indistinct mediodorsal lines of lilac color. The pupa is quite active and irritable, striking about in all directions when meddled with.
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
Vernonia gigantea is a species of perennial plant from Asteraceae family that can be found in United States and Canada. The plant is native to the eastern United States, north to New York state and Ontario, and southwest to Texas.
Vernonia missurica, the Missouri ironweed, is a species of purple-flowered perennial plant from Asteraceae family that can be found growing in the central United States.
