Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGelechiidae Members: Isophrictis Members: 2 NC Records

Isophrictis rudbeckiella Bottimer, 1926 - No Common Name

Isophrictis rudbeckiellaIsophrictis rudbeckiella
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gelechioidea		 Family:
Gelechiidae		Subfamily:
Anomologinae		P3 Number:
59a0614		 MONA Number:
1700.00
Comments: As currently recognized, Isophrictis rudbeckiella is widely distributed across North America and likely is a species complex. BOLD currently showing five BINS, with several northern and western groups possibly representing undescribed species. Here, we only cover populations that occur in eastern North America.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Bottimer (1926)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Bottimer (1926)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Isophrictis rudbeckiella is a small moth with an overall grayish-brown color and a recurved labial palp that has long, rough, spreading hairs beneath the second segment. The following detailed description is based mostly on that of Bottimer (1926).

The antenna has alternating light-tan and dark-brown to blackish annulations, except for the basal joints that are lighter. The labial palp has a whitish to light-brown third segment, with the third segment being about as long as, or slightly shorter than, the second segment. The second segment is medium-brown and has a conspicuous tuft of long, spreading, brown hairs that ascend forward. The face is white, and the head and thorax are covered with white-tipped dark scales that produce a grainy appearance.

The forewing has patches and lines of white-tipped dark scales that produce a fine-grained, salt-and-peppery ground color. The ground is often overlain with two narrow longitudinal light tan to golden stripes with a black spot on the apical third of each. The first is centrally located and extends from the sub-basal region to around one-half the wing length, while the second is between it and the costa, and positioned slightly more apically. Additional shorter lines of similar color are sometimes evident, especially on the apical third where they tend to project towards the apex and are surrounded by a <-shaped group of grainy scales. Individuals vary in the degree of development of the light-colored lines, and in some specimens the primary and secondary lines may be faint or absent. The fringe is light-fuscous with two dark transverse lines, and the hindwing is dark silvery fuscous with light-fuscous cilia. The legs are silvery white and heavily overlaid with fuscous on the outside.

Isophrictis anteliella is very similar to A. rudbeckiella, but has an oblique white line at around three-fourths that extends to the outer margin, and a rich fawn-brown color due to the absence of white-tipped, dark scales on the head, thorax and forewing as seen in A. rudbeckiella. A third species is present in the Sandhills that appears to be undescribed based on the genitalia, so we recommend dissecting all specimens from this region of the state.
Wingspan: 11.5-16 mm (Bottimer, 1926).
Adult Structural Features: Bottimer (1926) has a description and illustration of the male genitalia.
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.
Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on the flower and seed heads of species of Rudbeckia, where they burrow through and consume tissues in both the receptacle and the developing seeds and fruits. Braun (1921) found the larvae to be very common in the flower heads of Rudbeckia hirta in the vicinity of Cincinnati. The whitish larvae burrowed into and fed on the receptacles of the flower heads. Just before pupating, they burrowed down into the stems for a distance of 1-8 cm, made an opening to the outside, then pupated in the stem. Bottimer (1926) observed larvae feeding throughout the flower heads of Rudbeckia in Texas, where they pupated either in a burrow in the flower head, or in the stem as observed by Braun (1921). Larvae in this region produced two broods. Adults from overwintering larvae produced adults in June, with larvae and pupae that were collected in mid-July producing a second emergence of adults from 26 July to 12 August. Additional larvae were found in September and November that overwintered in the seed heads and produced adults the following June.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Populations that are currently assigned to I. rudbeckiella occur in both eastern and western North America and likely constitute a species complex. Only populations in the East are covered here, where they occur in Ontario and Quebec, and in the US from Maine, Massachusetts and New York westward to Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri. The range extends southwestward mostly through the Appalachian Region to eastern Tennessee and North Carolina, then onward to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and eastern and central Texas. As of 2025, we have two records from the Sandhills that we have assigned to this species. The taxonomic status of these populations is not fully understood due to the presence of an apparently undescribed species that occurs in the same region.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Isophrictis rudbeckiellaAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
Piedmont (Pd)
Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Flight Comments: Adults in eastern North America have been found from April through October. As of 2025, our two records are from August and September.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: As of 2025, both of our records come from bean dips in the Fall-line Sandhills.
Larval Host Plants: As of 2025, the larvae are only known to feed on coneflowers (Rudbeckia spp.; Braun, 1921; Bottimer, 1926). The reported hosts include Black-eyed Susan (R. hirta) and Giant Coneflower (R. maxima). - View
Observation Methods: The adults are occasionally found at lights and the larvae can be found in developing heads of coneflowers.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Loamy, Fire-maintained Herblands
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SNR [S1S2]
State Protection:
Comments: As of 2025, we have two records from the Sandhills that we have assigned to this species. The taxonomic status of the Sandhills populations is not fully understood due to the presence of an apparently undescribed species that occurs there.

 Photo Gallery for Isophrictis rudbeckiella - None

Photos: 3
Isophrictis rudbeckiella
Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-08-30
Richmond Co.
Comment: 		Isophrictis rudbeckiella
Recorded by: Jim Petranka, Mark Basinger and Becky Elkin on 2025-08-30
Richmond Co.
Comment:
Isophrictis rudbeckiella
Recorded by: J.B. Sullivan on 2022-09-26
Scotland Co.
Comment: