Moths of North Carolina

Scientific Name:	Common Name:		Family (Alpha): Choose a Family

Home

View PDF	Momphidae Members:	Mompha Members:	28 NC Records

Mompha eloisella (Clemens, 1860) - Red-streaked Mompha

view caption

Taxonomy

Superfamily:
Gelechioidea

Family:
Momphidae

Subfamily:
Momphinae

Tribe:
[Momphini]

P3 Number:
59a1833

MONA Number:
1443.00

Comments: The genus Mompha consists of around 46 described species in North America. In addition, numerous species remain to be described that are centered in the southwestern US (Bruzzese et al., 2019). The adults are small moths that have two or more tufts of raised scales on each forewing. The larvae either mine leaves, or bore into the stems, flower buds, flowers, or fruits of their hosts. The majority of species feed on members of the Onagraceae, but others feed on species in the Cistaceae, Lythraceae, Melastomataceae, and Rubiaceae.

Identification

Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012)

Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD

Technical Description, Adults: Clemens (1860); Forbes (1923)

Technical Description, Immature Stages: Dickerson and Weiss (1920)

Adult Markings: This is an easily recognizable species that has bold black spotting on the distal half of an otherwise silvery white body, tawny coloration and streaking on the apical third, and a black, tail-like structure (pencil) on the wing tip. The following detailed description is mostly based on that of Clemens (1860). The head, face and thorax are silvery white. There is a cluster of around 10 black spots on the thorax and the base of the forewing that immediately adjoin the thorax. The labial palp is white with a dark brown spot on the middle of second joint, and two dark brown rings at the base and tip of the third joint. The antenna has a white base and a tawny yellow stalk that has faint darker annulations. The ground color of the forewing is silvery white and overlain with blackish spots and tawny to blackish streaks. Two blackish spots are present just inside the inner margin at about one-third and just beyond one-half the wing length. The latter has a tuft of raised scales. A second larger and lighter tuft of raised scales is present at about three-fourths. The costa has a series of posteriorly oblique streaks. These include two blackish ones at about one-third and two-thirds, along with several tawny streaks or striae on the apical third. All but the first tend to merge with a streak or broader region of tawny brown to brownish-black coloration that extends from the inner margin behind the first scale tuft inward. From there, a dark line extends to the tail-like tip of the apex. The hindwing is tawny grayish and the cilia ocherous. The legs are white and boldly marked with black blotches.

Wingspan: 15 mm, but sometimes dwarfs as small as 8 mm (Forbes, 1923)

Structural photos

Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.

Immatures and Development: The following summary of the larval life history is based on the detailed studies by Dickerson and Weiss (1920) in New Jersey. The larvae feed on evening-primroses. After hatching, the larva enters the stem tissue and makes a longitudinal cavity just under the bark and between the bark and pith. Before they are full grown, each larva excavates the pith and construct a hibernation cell in which it overwinters. Most cells are in the main stem, and most commonly in the central section where as many as 30 or more cells can be found in a single plant. Each cell consists of a cavity in the pith which is plugged at each end with what appears to be layers of dark excrement-like material. During April and May the overwintering larva spins a rather loose cocoon and cuts a circular hole through the wall of the upper part of the cell, leaving only the thin epidermis on the outside of the stem. It then spins a compact, white, elongate cocoon in which it transforms. The adults emerge from the circular hole in June and July. The young larvae are greenish. The mature larvae are about I3 mm long and yellowish-white with light reddish brown heads that are irregularly mottled.

Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.

Distribution in North Carolina

Distribution: Mompha eloisella is found in eastern North America and in the West in Colorado, and from British Columbia southward to California. In the East, populations occur in southern Canada (Ontario eastward to Prince Edward Island and vicinity) and throughout most of the eastern US from Maine southward to southern Florida, then westward to western Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa. We have scattered records from the coast to the lower elevations in the Blue Ridge.

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
Immature Dates: High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft. Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft. Piedmont (Pd) Coastal Plain (CP) Click on graph to enlarge
Flight Comments: Adults have been collected during almost all months of the year in areas outside of North Carolina, with most records from May through August. As of 2023, our records are from early May through mid-July.

Habitats and Life History

Habitats: Common Evening-primrose is presumed to be the primary host in North Carolina. This species is found in sunny to partially sunny habitats such as infrequently mowed roadsides, abandoned fields, powerline corridors, meadows, the edges of agricultural fields, and other open and often disturbed habitats.

Larval Host Plants: The two known hosts are Common Evening-primrose (Oenothera biennis) and Bigfruit Evening-primrose (O. macrocarpa). In North Carolina, we only have records for Common Evening-primrose. - View

Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights. The larvae can be found in the overwintering stalks of evening-primroses, and the adults easily reared from the overwintering stalks. The larvae can also be found by splitting open living Evening-primrose stalks during the late-summer or fall.

Wikipedia

Status in North Carolina

Natural Heritage Program Status:

Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [SU]

State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.

Comments: As of 2023, we have only a few scattered records from across the state. This species is probably more common than our records suggest.

Photo Gallery for Mompha eloisella - Red-streaked Mompha

Photos: 26

	Recorded by: K. Bischof on 2025-06-22 Transylvania Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2024-07-14 Watauga Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jeff Niznik on 2024-07-14 Watauga Co. Comment:		Recorded by: David George, John Petranka on 2023-08-21 Durham Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-19 Madison Co. Comment: A larval chamber that was revealed by splitting the stem of Oenothera biennis.		Recorded by: Jim Petranka on 2023-08-19 Madison Co. Comment: A larva that was removed from a stem chamber on Oenothera biennis.
	Recorded by: Simpson Eason on 2022-07-16 Durham Co. Comment:		Recorded by: tom ward on 2021-06-18 Buncombe Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2021-05-20 Onslow Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-05-19 Guilford Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-05-19 Guilford Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-05-02 Guilford Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2021-05-02 Guilford Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-24 Guilford Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-24 Guilford Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-16 Guilford Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-16 Guilford Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Gary Maness on 2020-05-16 Guilford Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-05-15 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2020-05-15 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-04 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-06-04 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-05-21 Madison Co. Comment:		Recorded by: Jim Petranka and Becky Elkin on 2019-05-21 Madison Co. Comment:
	Recorded by: Darryl Willis on 2016-06-12 Cabarrus Co. Comment:		Recorded by: T. DeSantis on 2012-05-06 Camden Co. Comment: