Moths of North Carolina
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Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Family (Alpha):
ACROLEPIIDAE-
ADELIDAE-
AMPHISBATIDAE-
AUTOSTICHIDAE-
BATRACHEDRIDAE-
BEDELLIIDAE-
BLASTOBASIDAE-
BOMBYCIDAE-
BUCCULATRICIDAE-
CARPOSINIDAE-
CHOREUTIDAE-
COLEOPHORIDAE-
COSMOPTERIGIDAE-
COSSIDAE-
CRAMBIDAE-
DEPRESSARIIDAE-
DREPANIDAE-
ELACHISTIDAE-
EPERMENIIDAE-
EPIPYROPIDAE-
EREBIDAE-Erebid Moths
ERIOCRANIIDAE-
EUTELIIDAE-
GALACTICIDAE-
GELECHIIDAE-
GEOMETRIDAE-
GLYPHIDOCERIDAE-
GLYPHIPTERIGIDAE-
GRACILLARIIDAE-
HELIOZELIDAE-
HEPIALIDAE-
HYBLAEIDAE-
INCURVARIIDAE-
LASIOCAMPIDAE-
LECITHOCERIDAE-Long-horned Moths
LIMACODIDAE-
LYONETIIDAE-
MEGALOPYGIDAE-Flannel Moths
MICROPTERIGIDAE-
MIMALLONIDAE-
MOMPHIDAE-Mompha Moths
NEPTICULIDAE-
NOCTUIDAE-Owlet Moths
NOLIDAE-
NOTODONTIDAE-
OECOPHORIDAE-
OPOSTEGIDAE-
PELEOPODIDAE-
PLUTELLIDAE-
PRODOXIDAE-
PSYCHIDAE-Bagworm Moths
PTEROPHORIDAE-
PYRALIDAE-
SATURNIIDAE-Saturniids
SCHRECKENSTEINIIDAE-
SESIIDAE-
SPHINGIDAE-Sphinx Moths
THYATIRIDAE-
THYRIDIDAE-
TINEIDAE-
TISCHERIIDAE-
TORTRICIDAE-
URANIIDAE-
URODIDAE-
XYLORYCTIDAE-
YPONOMEUTIDAE-
YPSOLOPHIDAE-
ZYGAENIDAE-
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Unassigned Apoditrysia Members:
Cycloplasis immaculata
Cycloplasis panicifoliella
Cycloplasis
Members:
Cycloplasis immaculata
Cycloplasis panicifoliella
3 NC Records
Cycloplasis panicifoliella
Clemens, 1864 - No Common Name
view caption
The larva produces a linear mine that widens into a blotch, then makes a circular window cut out. The circular cut out is then folded into a semicircular structure that is used as a pupation site.
Taxonomy
Family:
Unassigned Apoditrysia
P3 Number:
38a0001
MONA Number:
2493.00
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions:
Online Resources:
MPG
,
BugGuide
,
iNaturalist
,
Google
,
BAMONA
,
GBIF
,
BOLD
Technical Description, Adults:
Forbes (1923)
Technical Description, Immature Stages:
Eiseman (2022)
Adult Markings:
This is a small, but distinctive micromoth that has brownish forewings with a violet sheen and a single silvery fascia at around one-third the wing length. The adults characteristically rest with the hindlimbs raised. The following is based on the description by Forbes (1923). The head and thorax are lead-colored, while the antenna is brown with silver towards the base. The forewing is umber brown with a more or less violet sheen, and has a broad, straight, bright silvery fascia at about one-third the wing length. The apical half of the forewing is often faintly suffused with silver, especially towards the costa. The forewing fringe and hindwing are violet brown, while the hindwing fringe is fuscous. The hindlegs have prominent whorls of elongated spines and are held up and out when an individual is resting. This species is very similar to
Cycloplasis immaculata
, but the latter lacks the silvery band on the basal third of the forewing.
Immatures and Development:
The larvae commonly mine the leaves of deer-tongue grasses (Dicanthelium spp.). They initially produce a long, threadlike, linear track that runs from the base towards the tip. This eventually expands into an irregular, flat upperside blotch. When the larva finishes feeding, it cuts a circular piece from the upper wall of the mine that is 3–4 mm in diameter and folds it in half. It then binds the edges with silk on the inside to create a semicircular pupal chamber (Microleps.org; Eiseman, 2022). The larva eventually drops to the ground and attaches the case to a nearby object. Eiseman (2022) noted that the larvae sometimes pupate within their mines, without making a circular cut-out, and in one such instance the mine was entirely linear.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
The range is poorly documented, but likely includes a large portion of the eastern US and adjoining areas of Ontario. Scattered records from the eastern US extend from New York, Massachusetts and Vermont southward to Florida, and westward to Texas, Arkansas and Illinois. As of 2024, we have only two site records and both are from the eastern Piedmont.
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:
Local populations in the north appear to produce two broods per year, with larvae first present in June and early-July, then gain in late-summer (Forbes, 1923; Eiseman, 2022; Microleps.org). Larvae have been found in January in Florida. As of 2024, our one record of an occupied mine is from June.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats:
Larval Host Plants:
Larvae feed on grasses, including species of
Dichanthelium
and
Lasiacis
that are both in tribe Paniceae (Robinson et al., 2010; Eiseman, 2022; Feldman, 2022). The known host include Deer-tongue Witchgrass (
Dichanthelium clandestinum
), Variable Witchgrass (
Dichanthelium commutatum
), and a species of C. panicifoliella is also recorded from Lasiacis (Eisemn, 2023). -
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Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks:
GNR S2S4
State Protection:
Comments:
Photo Gallery for
Cycloplasis panicifoliella
- No common name
Photos: 4
Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-13
Durham Co.
Comment: A linear mine widening into a blotch, with a circular window cut out where the miner used the circle of leaf surface to pupate in a folded semicircle.
Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-13
Durham Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-13
Durham Co.
Comment:
Recorded by: Tracy S. Feldman on 2022-06-03
Durham Co.
Comment: Linear mines (young/early mines) on Dichanthelium commutatum--becomes a blotch mine later on (starting to form in upper left part of the leaf in the photo).