A sparkling shiny new moth

Monopis monachella

Another micro-moth identified. This one is a Tinted Moth or White-headed Monopis Moth (Monopis monachella, Family Tineidae). It showed up under my porch light a few nights ago. From a distance it looks like a grain of burned rice but close up it is very beautiful with a white furry head and thorax, and dark purplish wings that are decorated with iridescent blue scales, a pearly white patch, and fringes at the the upturned end of the wing.

The genus Monopsis has some very unusual feeding preferences. Monopis moth larvae feed on a variety of substances that we do not commonly associate with moth caterpillars which by and large eat leaves or other live plant parts. Instead, Monopsis larvae feed on feathers, fur, wool, dried skin and other less digestible parts of animal carcasses, owl pellets, bird droppings, and carnivore scat. In a Korean study feathers were used to bait traps to catch two species of Monopsis. A species of Monopsis has also been discovered that lives in bat caves feeding on guano and other debris.

Taxonomy
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Tineoidea (Tubeworm, Bagworm, and Clothes Moths)
Family Tineidae (Clothes Moths, Fungus Moths)
Subfamily Tineinae
Genus/species Monopis monachella

Description
The following description is a summary after After Dietz (1905), Forbes (1923), Guo-Hua et al. (2011), and Bug Guide. Wings dark reddish brown (“purple black” in Guo-Hua et al. 2011) with ashy gray-brown spots, the costa trapezoidal, pearly white, extending from mid-wing to the tip, its edges diagonal. The diagonal edge of the costa encloses a translucent or vitreous circle which is typical of all Monopis. There are a few white scales are on the rounded wing tip. The head and thorax are white, antennae dark brown. Length approximately 5 mm.

Range
In the broad sense M. monachella has a near worldwide distribution. However, recent studies suggest that M. monachella is actually a collection of many morphologically similar looking species that can be reliably told apart only by DNA.

Larval Hosts
Larvae of M. monachella are reported to feed on animal remains that contain keratin (keratophagous) such as dried skin, feathers and other remains in bird nests, fur, wool and owl pellets which are the regurgitated bits of animals containing fur and bones an owl cannot digest. Some members of the genus are chitinophagous, that is, they can eat and digest fungi, the cell walls of which contain chitin, and the chitinous exoskeletons of arthropods. The larvae live in portable silken tubes.

SOURCES

Bong-Kyu Byun, Sat-Byul Shin, Yang-Seop Bae, Do Sung Kim, Yong Geun Choi. (2014). First discovery of a cave-dwelling Tineid moth (Lepidoptera, Tineidae) from East Asia. Journal of Forestry Research 25(3): 647-651.

Dietz, William G. (1905). Revision of the Genera and Species of the Tineid Subfamilies Amydrinae and Tineinae inhabiting North America. Transactions of the American Entomoligical Society, 31(1): 1-95 with six plates. Description of Monopis monachella on pages 30 to 33.

Dong-June Lee, Young-Don Ju, Ulziijargal Bayarsaikhan, Bo-Sun Park, Sol-Moon Na, Jae-Won Kim, Bong-Woo Lee, Yang-Seop Bae. (2016). First report on two species of genus Monopis (Lepidoptera, Tineidae) collected by feather trap in Korea. Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity 9: 215-218

Forbes, William T. M. (1923). Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, 1923, Memoir #68: Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States. Description of Monopis monachella on page 132.

Guo-Hua Huang, Liu-Sheng Chen, Toshiya Hirowatari, Yoshitsugu Nasu, and Ming Wang. (2011). A revision of the Monopis monachella species complex (Lepidoptera: Tineidae) from China. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 163: 1-14.

Genus Monopis at Bug Guide web site.

Monopis monachella at HOSTS web site.

Monopis monachella at NIC.FUNET.FI web site.

Monopsis monachella at Svenska fjärilar web site.

Species Monopis monachella – White-headed Monopis – Hodges#0418 at Bug Guide web site.

A Moth Among the Ferns

I was out taking a walk Sunday afternoon and saw many different small moths flying out from hiding in the grass and blueberry bushes. Most were too small and fast to get a good look at them. The one shown above flew and ducked under some grass blades just long enough for me to get a few snapshots before it took off. Later I went out again and saw dozens of them in a forest clearing full of bracken fern. The species is Northern Petrophora (Petrophora subaequaria, Family Geometridae) and its larvae feed only on ferns with bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) apparently the principle host plant. Photos at Bug Guide show the larvae on fronds of Osmunda fern.

Some brief information on Northern Petrophora (Petrophora subaequaria)

Taxonomy
Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Ennominae
Tribe Lithinini
Genus/species Petrophora subaequaria

Description
Wing span to 19 mm, speckled tan forewings with yellowish veins, antemedial and postmedial lines white edged and parallel. There is a small black dot in the center of the wings.

Life cycle
As with many moths not directly injurious to crops and forestry there is little information on the life history of Northern Petrophora. With so many adult moths appearing now in my bracken field it seems that mating and egg laying occur in the spring.

Range
Northern Petrophora occurs in North America from New Brunswick to Alberta, along the Great Lakes east to New England, and then south sporadically along the Appalachians to North Carolina.

SOURCES

Beadle, D. and Leckie, S. (2012). Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Boston. 640 pages.

Voss, Edward G. (1991) “Moths of the Douglas Lake Region (Emmet and Cheboygan Counties), Michigan: IV. Geometridae (Lepidoptera),” The Great Lakes Entomologist: Vol. 24 : No. 3 , Article 11. Available at: http://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol24/iss3/11

Species accounts at Bug Guide, Moth Photographers Group, HOSTS,

Night of the Micros

Many-plume Mmoth (Alucita montana)

Unknown micro-moth (Family Gracillariidae?)

Unknown micro-moth (Family Blastobasidae?) top view

Unknown micro-moth (Family Blastobasidae?) sideview

Unknown micro-moth (Subfamily Olethreutinae?)

Mompha sp.

Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella)

A blurry photo of Paronix

For some reason micro-moths (not a proper taxonomic group but a group of convenience) were well represented under my porch light the past two nights. Getting a clear picture of these 2 to 4 mm long moths is no easy task with a cellphone and some are just tantalizing blurs. Still, I recorded fourteen species of micro-moths which, with the exception of Diamondback Moth (Plutella xylostella, Family Plutellidae), a Leaf Blotch Miner Moth (Caloptilia stigmatella, Family Gracillariidae), and Many-plume Moth (Alucita montana, Family Alucitidae), and two species of Agonopterix (Agonopterix pulvipennella and Agonopterix atrodorsella, Family Depressariidae), are unidentified. There are two micro-moths, Mompha (Family Momphidae) and Parornix (Family Gracillariidae), identified to genus only because microscopic features are necessary for accurate determination.

As for larger moths (macro-moths) six species were seen. They are Sigmoid Prominent (Clostera albosigma, Family Notodontidae), Powdered Bigwing (Lobophora nivigerata, Family Geometridae), Small engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia, Family Geometridae), Bicolored Woodgrain (Morrisonia evicta, Family Noctuidae), Norman’s Quaker Moth (Crocigrapha normani, Family Noctuidae), and Large Ruby Tiger Moth (Phragmatobia assimilans, Family Erebidae).

Morrisonia evicta, Crocigrapha normani, Ectropis crepuscularia, Phragmatobia assimilans, and Agonopterix atrodorsella are new records as are Mompha (M. luciferella?) and Parornix (P. obliterella?), neither of which can be properly identified to species by visual inspection of gross morphology alone, thus bringing the moth checklist up to 204 species.

Bicolored Woodgrain (Morrisonia evicta)

Norman’s Quaker Moth (Crocigrapha normani)

Large Ruby Tiger Moth (Phragmatobia assimilans)

Small engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia)

Some brief notes on the new macro-moths and the micro-moth Agonopterix atrodorsella

Morrisonia evicta
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Orthosiini

Larval host plants: A large variety of woody plants including blueberry (Vaccinium), cherry (Prunus), chokeberry (Aronia), dogwood (Cornus), and hazel (Corylus).
Range: Northeastern US to Georgia and North Carolina and southern Canada. Scattered reports from Montana, Florida, and Texas.

Crocigrapha normani
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Orthosiini

Larval Host plants: ash (Fraxinus), aspen (Populus), birch (Betula), cherry and plum (Prunus), oak (Quercus), mountain ash (Sorbus), elm (Ulmus), and willow (Salix).
Range: Northeastern US to Georgia and South Carolina and in southern Canada.

Phragmatobia assimilans
Superfamily Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)
Family Erebidae
Subfamily Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)
Tribe Arctiini (Tiger Moths)
Subtribe Spilosomina

Larval Host plants: balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera), raspberry (Rubus), and paper birch (Betula papyrifera).
Range: Northeastern US to Georgia and South Carolina and in southern Canada.

Ectropis crepuscularia
Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Ennominae
Tribe Boarmiini

Larval Host plants: balsam fir (Abies balsamea), hemlock (Tsuga canadense), larch (Larix), spruce (Picea), apple (Malus), alder (Alnus) and many other tree and shrub species.
Range: Over much of North America and in Eurasia.

Agonopterix atrodorsella
Superfamily Gelechioidea (Twirler Moths and kin)
Family Depressariidae
Subfamily Depressariinae

Larval Host plants: joe-pye weed (Eupatorium), beggars ticks (Coreopsis and Bidens).
Range: New England, Great Lakes Region, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and few locations in Kentucky, Maryland, and North Carolina.

SOURCES

Beadle, D. and Leckie, S. (2012). Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Boston. 640 pages.

Species accounts at Bug Guide, BAMONA, HOSTS, and Moth Photographers Group.

Two new species last night

Curved-tooted Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria) lower surface of wings showing scalloped margins.

Curved-tooted Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria)

Large Maple Spanworm (Prochoerodes lineola) on August ‎16, ‎2017

Gray Leafroller (Syndemis afflictana)

I didn’t find five new species last night like I had hoped to but I did find two, Curved-toothed Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria) in the Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths) and Gray Leafroller (Syndemis afflictana) in the Family Tortricidae (Tortricid Moths), which, like almost all the moths I’ve found to date, are new records for Carlton County. These two species bring the checklist to 197 species.

Curved-toothed Geometer is similar in appearance to Large Maple Spanworm (Prochoerodes lineola, Family Geometridae) but can be told apart by its scalloped wing margins, hooked wing tips, and the pale yellow postmedial line across the forewings. Color of the forewings varies from light brown to dark purplish brown to brownish gray and may be mottled with fine spots. The range of Curved-toothed Geometer is east of the Mississippi River and north into southern Canada. Larvae of Curved-toothed Geometer feed on many trees including ash (Fraxinus spp.), basswood (Tilia spp.), birch (Betula spp.), elm (Ulmus spp.), and poplar (Populus spp.).

Two moths seen in the last several days returned: Agonopterix pulvipennella (Family Depressariidae) and Black-dashed Hydriomena (Hydriomena divisaria, Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)).

Agonopterix pulvipennella

Black-dashed Hydriomena (Hydriomena divisaria)

And there were some moths first seen here last summer. Two of them, Pale Metanema (Metanema inatomaria) and Dark Metanema (Metanema determinata) are in the Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths). The other, Apical Prominent (Clostera apicalis), is in the Family Notodontidae (Prominent Moths) and is one of two species of Clostera I have found the other being Sigmoid Prominent (C. albosigma). Apical Prominent differs from Sigmoid Prominent by the wavy postmedial line that borders a large rust colored apical patch and by the kinked oblique median line of the forewing as compared to the parallel lines of Sigmoid Prominent. The larvae of all four species feed on aspen (Populus spp.) and willows (Salix spp.). These moth species occur over most of the US and southern Canada.

Pale Metanema (Metanema inatomaria)

Dark Metanema (Metanema determinata)

Apical Prominent (Clostera apicalis)

Sigmoid Prominent (Clostera albosigma) with an unknown white moth on July 15, 2017

Although I am feeling a bit tired I think I will put in a few hours tonight looking for moths again.

SOURCES

Beadle, D. and Leckie, S. (2012). Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, Boston. 640 pages.

Species accounts at Bug Guide and Moth Photographers Group.