Homaledra

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Homaledra
Homaledra heptathalama (17174702479).jpg
Homaledra heptathalama is sometimes known as the "exclamation moth" - see the wing pattern
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterolonchidae
Genus: Homaledra
Busck, 1900 [1]

Homaledra is a small genus of at least four species small moth of the family Pterolonchidae native to North and South America.

Contents

Taxonomy

It was included in the family Coleophoridae by Ron Hodges in 1983. Hodges then moved it to the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the Batrachedridae in 1999. [1] [2] [3] In 2014, a cladistic analysis performed by Heikkilä et al., made them deem it necessary to reclassify the genus in the family Pterolonchidae. [4]

In 1997 Hodges moved the two South American species Pammeces citraula and P. crocoxysta to Homaledra. [5]

Species

The following species are known: [1]

Ecology

Homaledra heptathalama feeds in the folds on the undersides of the palm fronds, using silk bolstered with its frass to construct a small elongate chamber to which it adds, as it grows, successively larger, more or less rectangular, thick-walled, communicating rooms, usually building up to eight. [8]

Uses

At least two species are pests of palms in Florida.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gelechioidea</span> Superfamily of moths

Gelechioidea is the superfamily of moths that contains the case-bearers, twirler moths, and relatives, also simply called curved-horn moths or gelechioid moths. It is a large and poorly understood '"micromoth" superfamily, constituting one of the basal lineages of the Ditrysia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batrachedridae</span> Family of moths

The Batrachedridae are a small family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies.

<i>Batrachedra</i> Moth genus in family Batrachedridae

Batrachedra is the largest genus in the moth family Batrachedridae, with representatives all over the world. The early stages of most species are unknown. The genus name is derived from the Greek words batrachos, 'frog', and edra, 'seat', referring to the frog-like resting posture of the adult moths. As of 2018 at least some 114 species are known to belong to the genus.

The Cosmopterigidae are a family of insects in the order Lepidoptera. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seeds and stems of their host plants. About 1500 species are described. The taxonomic family is most diverse in the Australian and Pacific region with about 780 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pterolonchidae</span> Family of moths

Pterolonchidae is a small family of very small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. There are species native to every continent except Australia and Antarctica.

<i>Chedra</i> Moth genus in family Batrachedridae

Chedra is a genus of tiny moths, belonging to the family Batrachedridae.

Chedra mimica is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae known from Hawaii.

Coelopoeta is a relatively divergent genus of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea, which have only been found in western North America.

Coelopoeta glutinosi is a tiny species of moth in the superfamily Gelechioidea. It is found in California in the United States.

<i>Syringopais temperatella</i> Species of moth

Syringopais temperatella, the cereal leaf miner or wheat leaf miner, is a very small sized moth of the family Pterolonchidae. It is found on Cyprus and in Greece and the Near East. It is an important pest in cereal grain fields in some areas.

<i>Chedra delector</i> Moth species in family Batrachedridae

Chedra delector is a tiny moth placed in the family Batrachedridae. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index of the Natural History Museum in London classifies it in the family Coleophoridae based on the old classification given by Ron Hodges in the 1983 Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico. It is found in Chile. The holotype was collected by D. Bullock on 30 January 1941 at Angol, in the Malleco Province, central Chile, and is kept at the Department of Entomology of the National Museum of Natural History of the Smithsonian Institution. The species was described by Ron Hodges in 1966. The caterpillars feed upon the seeds of Cyperaceae.

<i>Chedra pensor</i> Moth species in family Batrachedridae

Chedra pensor is a tiny dwarf moth in the family Batrachedridae. It was collected by Ronald W. Hodges at a place called West Fork, 16 miles (26 km) southwest of Flagstaff, Coconino County, Arizona, in the United States, at 1,981 metres (6,499 ft) in elevation in early July, and subsequently described by him in 1966. It has been found in the US states of California, Arizona and Illinois. The holotype is kept at the Department of Entomology of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. It is the type species of the genus Chedra.

<i>Homaledra heptathalama</i> Moth species in family Batrachedridae

Homaledra heptathalama, the exclamation moth or palm leaf housemaker, is a moth in the family Pterolonchidae. It was described by August Busck in 1900. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.

Homaledra sabalella, the palm leaf skeletonizer moth, is a moth in the family Pterolonchidae. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas. It is also present in Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba.

<i>Walshia miscecolorella</i> Species of moth

Walshia miscecolorella, the sweetclover root borer moth, is a moth in the family Cosmopterigidae. It was described by Vactor Tousey Chambers in 1875. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from southern Canada south to Florida and Texas.

Sufetula carbonalis is a moth species in the family Crambidae. It was described by James E. Hayden in 2013. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Florida.

Dichomeris aglaia is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Ronald W. Hodges in 1986. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Florida to Texas and in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Epimarptidae was a former, or is a possible, monotypic family of moths in the moth superfamily Gelechioidea. It can now be seen as either a synonym of family Batrachedridae, or a monotypic subfamily of that family.

<i>Autosticha kyotensis</i> Species of moth

Autosticha kyotensis, the Kyoto moth, is a moth in the family Autostichidae. It was described by Shōnen Matsumura in 1931. It is found in Japan on the island of Honshu. It is an introduced species in the United States, where it has been recorded from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

<i>Pterolonche</i> Genus of moth

Pterolonche is small genus of small moths of the family Pterolonchidae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Savela, Markku (5 February 2015). "Homaledra". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. Brown, Richard L. (19 August 2015). "Batrachedridae Overview". Gelechioidea - a Global Framework. Mississippi State University . Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. Hodges, Ronald W. (1999). "The Gelechioidea". In Kristensen, N.P. (ed.). Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology Vol. 4, part 35. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Vol. 1. Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 131–158. ISBN   978-3-11-015704-8.
  4. Heikkilä, Maria; Mutanen, Marko; Kekkonen, Mari; Kaila, Lauri (November 2014). "Morphology reinforces proposed molecular phylogenetic affinities: a revised classification for Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera)". Cladistics. 30 (6): 563–589. doi: 10.1111/cla.12064 . Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. Hodges, Ronald W. (1997). "A new agonoxenine moth damaging Araucaria araucana needles in Western Argentina and notes on the Neotropical Agonoxenine fauna (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 99 (2): 272. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  7. Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  8. Robin McLeod; Chuck Entz; Randy Hardy (18 June 2014). "Homaledra heptathalama - Exclamation Moth - Hodges#1421". Bug Guide. Iowa State University . Retrieved 22 December 2019.