Moths of North Carolina
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Sole representative of Ypsolophidae in NC
4 NC Records

Ypsolopha falciferella (Walsingham, 1881) - Scythed Ypsolopha

No image for this species.
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Yponomeutoidea		 Family:
Ypsolophidae		Subfamily:
Ypsolophinae		Tribe:
[Ypsolophini]		P3 Number:
36a0153		 MONA Number:
2380.00
Comments: Ypsolopha falciferella is a widely distributed species that shows evidence of possibly consisting of more than one species (BOLD). This genus in general contains numerous geographically variable forms in North America and is in need of a thorough systematic evaluation.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLD                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Ypsolopha falciferella is a powdery grayish-brown moth with very long and narrow wings and tufted labial palps that project forward. The general body shape resembles that of some of our grass-veneers. The following description is based in part on that of Walsingham (1881), who described specimens from California and Oregon.

The head and labial palps are speckled gray, and the tufted palps projecting forward more than twice the length of the head. The forewing is narrow and around four times as long as wide, with the width only slightly increasing from the base to the outer margin. The apex is strongly falcate and the anal angle well defined. The cilia along the outer margin are shorter and darker near the middle, which produces a concave cavity of sorts. Fresh specimens usually have a series of raised scale tufts along the inner margin. The forewing ground color varies from grayish-white to grayish-brown and has two irregularly-margined, parallel, brownish bands. The first extends obliquely from the inner margin at around one-fourth the wing length to the costa at around one-half the length, while the second extends from the inner margin just beyond the one-half and typically terminate near or just beyond the middle of the wing. It sometimes connects to a posteriorly oblique band that extends from the costa at around one-half, with the ends of both meeting at their tips near the middle of the wing. Individuals vary substantially in the dark patterning on the wings, so expect deviations from the description above. The hindwing and cilia vary from light brown to pale cinereous.
Wingspan: 25-28 mm (Walsingham, 1881).
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae feed on members of the the Rosaceae, but details of life history are lacking. The larvae presumably feed beneath a thin silk web and pupate within a dense silk cocoon, as is typical for other members of this genus.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable only through rearing to adulthood.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Ypsolopha falciferella is broadly distributed across North America, including southern Canada, from British Columbia eastward to Newfoundland and New Brunswick. In the western US, specimens have been documented from the Pacific Northwest southward to southern California, and as scattered records in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado and southeastern Arizona. The range in the eastern US extends from Maine and other New England states westward to Michigan and Wisconsin. The range extends southward through the Appalachian region to Pennsylvania, western Maryland, West Virginia, southeastern Ohio and western North Carolina, where there appears to be a southern Appalachian group that is disjunct from the main range farther north. As of 2025, we have only two site records and both are from lower-elevation sites in the Blue Ridge.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Ypsolopha falciferellaAlamance 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 the eastern US and adjoining areas of Canada are active from March through August, with a seasonal peak in April and May. As of 2025, our very limited records are from late-February through late-March, with one late-season record from late-June.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: As of 2025, our records are from deciduous forests with edge habitat.
Larval Host Plants: The larvae appear to specialize on members of the Rosaceae, with the reported hosts including apple (Malus), Fire Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica), Choke Cherry (P. virginiana), and mountain-ash (Sorbus) (Robinson et al., 2023). - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Montane Rosaceous Thickets
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [S2S3]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: This species appears to reach the southern limit of its range in the eastern US in North Carolina. Populations here appear to be disjunct from the main range that is found farther north in Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.