Moths of North Carolina
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3 NC Records

Eucosma aquilana Wright and Gilligan, 2021 - No Common Name

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Taxonomy
Family: TortricidaeP3 Number: 620884.10 MONA Number: 3007.10
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Wright and Gilligan (2021)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following description is based on that of Wright and Gilligan (2021). The frons and vertex are tan and the antenna is blackish brown to tan. The lateral surfaces of the first and second segments of the labial palp is brown to tan, while the third segment is black. The thorax varies from blackish brown to golden brown, and the forewing is mostly uniformly brown with the fasciate markings and interfascial spot barely discernable. The ocellus is bright white, with three variably-expressed black longitudinal streaks, with one on the costal margin and two centrally located. The latter two are sometimes reduced to short dashes or dots. The termen has a narrow band of salt-and-pepper colored scales from the tornus to apex and the fringe is dark gray. The costa has 5-8 grayish strigulae that are inconspicuous, with strigula 9 at the apex being white and prominent. The subcostal area from strigula 5 to the apex is suffused with orange and crossed by gray striae that extend towards the termen. The hindwing is dark grayish brown. Wright and Gilligan (2021) noted that specimens from North Carolina tend to be blackish -- while those from Mississippi and Louisiana are mostly dark gray -- and those from Florida dark gray or pale golden brown.

This recently described species closely resembles Epiblema strenuana. Wright and Gilligan (2021) note that these two species are best separated by the size and brightness of the ocellus (larger and brighter in E. aquilana) and in the color of the third segment of the labial palp (contrastingly black in E. aquilana versus concolorous with segments one and two in E. strenuana). Structural differences in genitalia can also be used to separate these species.
Forewing Length: 5.2–8.3 mm (mean = 6.7) for males and 5.5–9.1 mm (mean = 7.8) for females (Wright and Gilligan, 2021)
Adult Structural Features: Wright and Gilligan (2021) provide illustrations and descriptions of the male and female genitalia as follows. In males the uncus is weakly developed but clearly differentiated from the dorsolateral shoulders of the tegumen. The socii are short and broad and the vesica has 26–36 deciduous cornuti. The clasper is reduced and bulge-like, and the valva has a concave dorsal and the ventral margin that is broadly emarginated. The dorsal lobe of the cucullus is strongly developed and tapers slightly to a rounded apex. The distal margin is weakly convex, the ventral lobe is weakly developed, and the anal angle is rounded.

In females, the papillae anales have pads that are moderately long and narrow and face laterally. They are sparsely setose and¬ densely microtrichiate. The apophyses posteriores is slightly longer than the apophyses anteriores, and tergum 8 has sparsely and uniformly distributed, short, hair-like setae. The lamella postvaginalis is long, narrow (length about 2.5 times ostium diameter), microtrichiate, and tapers slightly posteriorly. The lamella antevaginalis is narrow and ringlike. The posterior margin of sternum 7 is invaginated to the full length of the sterigma, while the posterior lobes of sternum 7 are triangular, attenuate posteriorly to narrowly rounded distal extremities, and are approximate to the lateral margins of the lamella postvaginalis. The ductus bursae has a sclerotized ring at the juncture with the ductus seminalis, and the corpus bursae has two signa of equal size that are located opposite one another and slightly posterior to the mid-bursa.
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: The range is poorly documented, but encompasses an area from at least North Carolina southward to Florida and westward to Louisiana (Wright and Gilligan, 2021).
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
Flight Comments: Specimens have been collected in June in Florida and in August and September elsewhere. As of 2022, our records are from late-August through mid-September.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: The preferred habitats are poorly documented.
Larval Host Plants: The host plants are undocumented. - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights.
Wikipedia
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR SU
State Protection:
Comments: We currently do not have sufficient information concerning the host use, habitat preferences, and distribution and abundance of this species to assess its conservation status.