Homaledra
| Homaledra | |
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| Homaledra heptathalama is sometimes known as the "exclamation moth" - see the wing pattern | |
Scientific classification 
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| 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.
Taxonomy[edit]
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[edit]
The following species are known:[1]
- Homaledra citraula (Meyrick, 1922) - Peru
- Homaledra crocoxysta (Meyrick, 1922) - Brazil
- Homaledra heptathalama Busck, 1900 - Alabama, Florida and South Carolina.[6]
- Homaledra sabalella (Chambers, 1880) - Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas,[7] Puerto Rico, Hispaniola and Cuba.
Ecology[edit]
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[edit]
At least two species are pests of palms in Florida.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Savela, Markku (5 February 2015). "Homaledra". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
- ^ Brown, Richard L. (19 August 2015). "Batrachedridae Overview". Gelechioidea - a Global Framework. Mississippi State University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
- ^ Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
- ^ Robin McLeod; Chuck Entz; Randy Hardy (18 June 2014). "Homaledra heptathalama - Exclamation Moth - Hodges#1421". Bug Guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved 22 December 2019.