Moths of North Carolina
Scientific Name:
Common Name:
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View PDFTineidae Members:
Homosetia Members:
1 NC Records

Homosetia tricingulatella (Clemens, 1863) - No Common Name

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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Tineoidea Family: TineidaeSubfamily: MeessiinaeTribe: [Meessiini]P3 Number: 300136 MONA Number: 295.00
Comments: Homosetia is a small genus with 12 recognized species that are found only in North America.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Forbes, 1923; microleps.org                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following description is primarily based on that of Forbes (1923). The head is blackish with a prominent shaggy tuft of erect hair-like scales, and the face whitish. The antenna is grayish and the labial palp gray on the outer side. The forewing is over six times as long as wide, gray, and slightly dusted with fuscous. A dark spot is present near the base of the costa. There is a poorly defined band at about one-third the wing length that hardly reaches the inner margin. There is also a broad, irregular, brassy-brown band in the middle of wing, besides some brassy areas nearer the base, and other irregular dark bands outwardly. Blackish tufts of raised scales occur at about one fifth, one half, and four fifths of the wing length from the base, but are often not evident in worn specimens. The fringe is checkered with black and white, and is pale outwardly. Forbes (1923) noted that this species and the next are easily recognized by their pattern, which is formed of grayish white, blackish, and golden in about equal proportions. Terry Harrison at microleps.org has discovered a complex of undescribed cryptic species in Illinois that closely resemble this species. These and H. tricingulatella are best identified by genitalia.
Wingspan: 10 mm (Forbes, 1923)
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable only by close inspection of structural features or by DNA analysis.
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is undocumented.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Homosetia tricingulatella is found in the eastern US from Maryland, Ohio, and Illinois southward to South Carolina, northern Florida, and eastern Oklahoma. The discovery of a cryptic species complex in this group suggests that many of these records are questionable.
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)

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Flight Comments: The adults are in flight from April through August. As of 2020, our one record is from 30 July.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: The habitats are poorly documented.
Larval Host Plants: The feeding ecology is undocumented, but it is very likely that this species does not depend on living plants as hosts. It presumably feeds on detritus, fungi, lichens, bird feathers or other organic matter like most other tineids. - View
Observation Methods: The adults occasionally visit lights.
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: We currently do not have sufficient information on the distribution and abundance of this species to assess its conservation status.