Tegeticula corruptrix

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Tegeticula corruptrix
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Prodoxidae
Genus: Tegeticula
Species:
T. corruptrix
Binomial name
Tegeticula corruptrix
Pellmyr, 1999

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. [1] [2]

The wingspan is 22.5–35 mm (0.89–1.38 in). [2]

The larvae feed on Yucca baccata , Yucca treculeana , Yucca torreyi , Yucca schidigera , Yucca glauca , Yucca baileyi , Yucca elata and Yucca verdiensis .

This species was called a "cheater" by its original describer because it lays eggs in the developing seeds and fruits of yucca plants without pollinating the flowers, unlike other yucca moths. [3]

Related Research Articles

The Prodoxidae are a family of moths, generally small in size and nondescript in appearance. They include species of moderate pest status, such as the currant shoot borer, and others of considerable ecological and evolutionary interest, such as various species of "yucca moths".

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

Yucca filamentosa, Adam's needle and thread, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asparagaceae native to the southeastern United States. Growing to 3 metres tall, it is an evergreen shrub valued in horticulture.

<i>Tegeticula yuccasella</i> Species of moth

Tegeticula yuccasella, the yucca moth, is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. The species was first described by Charles Valentine Riley in 1872. It can be found in North America from Texas to southern Canada.

<i>Tegeticula</i> Genus of moths

Tegeticula is a genus of moths of the family Prodoxidae, one of three genera known as yucca moths; they are mutualistic pollinators of various Yucca and Hesperoyucca species.

Tegeticula tehuacana is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico in Oaxaca, western- and south-western Veracruz, and central-northern Puebla centred on the Tehuacan Valley.

Tegeticula baja is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico on the Baja California Peninsula.

Tegeticula maculata is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in North America in central-southern cismontane California, in the Sierra Nevada north to Fresno County, in north-western Arizona, and from Baja California Norte to the Vizcaino region. The habitat consists of coastal chaparral and montane dry shrubby grassland.

Tegeticula synthetica is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in the Mojave Desert in southern Nevada, south-eastern California and from south-western Utah to north-western Arizona. The habitat consists of desert areas.

Tegeticula intermedia is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. Along with other moth species, it is commonly known as a yucca moth. T. intermedia lives in North America, particularly the United States. The moth resides in the southwest, the Great Plains, the Southeast, and mid-Atlantic. It also has been found much farther north in regions of Canada like Ontario and Alberta. There are also notable populations present in New Mexico. Their habitats are diverse and vary in terms of climate, landscape, and other factors. The moth lives in sand dunes, forests, glades, grassland, desert, and forests from the East Coast to the Southwest. Yucca moths have developed a strong mutualism with the yucca plant, such that both depend on each other for survival. The yucca moths and yucca plants have coevolved over millions of years. However, Tegeticula intermedia differs from most yucca moths in that it exhibits cheating behavior by laying eggs without pollinating the yucca plant.

Tegeticula carnerosanella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found from western Texas in the United States south to Mexico. The habitat consists of shrub desert.

Tegeticula maderae is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in south-eastern Arizona, United States. The habitat consists of pine-oak forests.

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 baccatella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in Arizona and New Mexico and adjacent regions of California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado. It is also found in western Texas. The habitat consists of shrub desert, rocky hillsides and open pine forests with outcrops.

Tegeticula rostratella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the Big Bend region of the United States, south to the Mapimí region in southern Coahuila in Mexico. The habitat consists of scrub desert.

Tegeticula superficiella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in south-western Utah and northern Arizona. The habitat consists of shrub desert and open pine forests.

Tegeticula elatella is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in western Texas, from the Big Bend region through southern New Mexico to south-eastern Arizona and the Verde Valley of central Arizona. The habitat consists of grassland and shrub desert.

Tegeticula cassandra is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the United States in north-central Florida and bordering areas of Georgia. The habitat consists of open pine and pine-oak forests and open grassy areas with oak scrub.

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 mapimiensis is a moth of the family Prodoxidae. It is found in Mexico in the Chihuahuan Desert, from Saltillo-Torre north to the Big Bend region of western Texas, United States.

Tegeticula antithetica is a species of moth in the family Prodoxidae. It is found in the Mojave Desert of the North American southwest, specifically southern California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah, and western Arizona.

References

  1. Government of Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada. "Information archivée dans le Web" (PDF). publications.gc.ca. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  2. 1 2 "Tegeticula corruptrix". tolweb.org. Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  3. Pellmyr, Olle (1999). "Systematic revision of the yucca moths in the Tegeticula yuccasella complex (Lepidoptera: Prodoxidae) north of Mexico". Systematic Entomology . 24 (3): 243–271. doi:10.1046/j.1365-3113.1999.00079.x.