Prodoxus praedictus

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Prodoxus praedictus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Prodoxidae
Genus: Prodoxus
Species:
P. praedictus
Binomial name
Prodoxus praedictus
Pellmyr, 2009

Prodoxus praedictus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the southern part of the Mojave Desert and bordering areas of the Colorado Desert, as well as in the central portion of the Joshua Tree National Park in California.

The wingspan is 10-10.9 mm for males and 11.4-12.8 mm for females. The forewings are pale tan and the hindwings are light brownish to darker brownish gray. [1] Adults are on wing from late March to early April.

The larvae feed on Yucca schidigera . They feed in a gallery inside the fruit wall of developing fruits of their host plant.

Etymology

The species epithet, praedictus meaning "predicted", reflects that a fruit-feeding bogus yucca moth had been predicted, but never identified, to exist on Yucca schidigera , despite decades of attention by entomologists.

Related Research Articles

<i>Yucca baccata</i> Yucca with banana-shaped fruit

Yucca baccata is a common species of yucca native to the deserts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, from southeastern California north to Utah, east to western Texas and south to Sonora and Chihuahua. It is also reported in the wild in Colombia.

<i>Yucca schidigera</i> Species of flowering plant

Yucca schidigera, also known as the Mojave yucca or Spanish dagger, is a flowering plant native to the southwest deserts of North America.

<i>Prodoxus</i> Genus of moths

Prodoxus is a genus of moths of the family Prodoxidae. The members of this genus are known as bogus yucca moths.

Tegeticula californica is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found along the coast of southernmost California, United States.

Tegeticula mojavella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the Mojave Desert, from southern Nevada and California south to the Mexican border. The habitat consists of bajadas and lower slopes of open desert.

Tegeticula corruptrix is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in North America in south-western California, Arizona, New Mexico, northern Coahuila, western and southern Texas, Colorado, Alberta, the western plains of Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana. The habitat consists of grassland, shrub desert, rocky hillsides, open pine forests and shrubby grassland.

Prodoxus gypsicolor is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the Kingston Range of the north-eastern Mojave Desert and possibly the Grand Canyon National Park in central-northern Arizona.

Prodoxus y-inversus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in south-western New Mexico, south-eastern Arizona and southern Nevada. The habitat consists of shrubby desert and open forests.

Prodoxus sonorensis is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in south-eastern Arizona, United States, and south into northern Sonora, Mexico.

Prodoxus carnerosanellus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the Big Bend region of western Texas, United States. It is probably also present in Mexico.

Prodoxus tamaulipellus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in thorn scrub interspersed with grasslands in the Tamaulipan biotic province which spans the borders of the southern United States and northern Mexico.

Prodoxus sordidus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the Mojave Desert in south-eastern California, north-western Arizona and southern Nevada.

Prodoxus weethumpi is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the south-western and north-eastern edges of the Mojave Desert in southern California and Nevada, north-western Arizona and south-western Utah.

Prodoxus tehuacanensis is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán region of Puebla and Oaxaca.

Prodoxus californicus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found along the coast of southern California, United States.

Prodoxus coloradensis is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. In North America it is found from the Colorado Plateau in the north to northern Sonora in the south, east to the Big Bend region of Texas and west to the coastal range of southern California.

Prodoxus atascosanellus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found from the Houston area of coastal Texas in the United States, south to the Mexican state of Michoacán, and west to the state of Durango.

<i>Prodoxus quinquepunctellus</i> Species of moth

Prodoxus quinquepunctellus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found from southern Alberta, Canada, to the Mexican Plateau of northern Mexico. The habitat consists of desert, grassland, openings in pine or deciduous forests and coastal chaparral and dunes.

<i>Prodoxus marginatus</i> Species of moth

Prodoxus marginatus is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in California, United States. The habitat consists of coastal chaparral and montane dry shrubby grassland.

Prodoxus aenescens is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. In North America it is found in central-southern cismontane California, north-western Arizona and Baja California Norte. The habitat consists of coastal chaparral and montane dry shrubby grassland.

References

  1. Pellmyr, O. ; J.B. Yoder & W.K. Godsoe, 2009: Prodoxus praedictus, n. sp., A new bogus Yucca moth from southern California. Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society63 (3): 137-140.