Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
 Family (Alpha):
« »
View PDFOecophoridae Members:
Mathildana Members:
39 NC Records

Mathildana newmanella (Clemens, 1864) - Newman's Mathildana Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gelechioidea Family: OecophoridaeSubfamily: OecophorinaeTribe: OecophoriniP3 Number: 420055.00 MONA Number: 1059.00
Comments: Mathildana contains only two species, and both are found in eastern North America.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Leckie and Beadle (2018)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Clarke (1941); Hodges (1974)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: This is a distinctive species with orangish palps, a white-tipped antenna, and two orange dorsal streaks on the forewing. The following detailed description is primarily based on that of Clarke (1941). The labial palp is orange-yellow and the third segment has a brownish suffusion. The face, tegula, collar, and basal segment of antenna is brassy. The remainder of the antenna is shining purplish black except for about eight terminal segments, which are silvery white. The head, thorax and forewing are dusky black with a pronounced purple luster. There are two conspicuous longitudinal orange-yellow streaks on the forewing that almost touch. One extends from the base along the fold to the basal fifth; the second is in the cell and extends slightly past the middle of the wing. The cilia are fuscous and lighter apically. The hindwing is dark fuscous and the cilia lighter. The legs are shining brassy, and the abdomen is fuscous above with a faint purple sheen. Mathildana flipria is very similar, but the orange-yellow streaks are greatly reduced in size and sometimes missing entirely.
Wingspan: 14-19 mm (Clarke, 1941)
Forewing Length: 5.5-8.5 mm (Hodges, 1974)
Adult Structural Features: Clarke (1941) provides descriptions and illustrations of the male and female genitalia. Male M. newmanella can be distinguished from male M. flipria based on the length of the sensory setae on the antenna. These are 1.5X to 2X as long as the depth of each antennal segment on M. newmanella, versus 3X to 4X as long as the depth of the antenna segments of M. flipria.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Very little is known about the larval ecology and life history. The larvae live in webbing beneath the bark on dead hardwoods (Hodges, 1974) and probably feed on fungi and other food resources. The fact that the adults are diurnally active and have bright orange coloration suggest that they may be distasteful or toxic to predators.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Mathildana newmanella is found in eastern North America in southern Canada (Ontario eastward to Nova Scotia) and much of the eastern US. In the US the range extends from the New England states westward to Minnesota, Illinois, and Missouri and as far south as northern Georgia, northern Alabama, and central Mississippi. As of 2020, our records span most of the state except the central and southern portions of the Coastal Plain.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge