Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFBucculatricidae Members:
Bucculatrix Members:
2 NC Records

Bucculatrix quinquenotella Chambers, 1875 - No Common Name

No image for this species.
Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gracillarioidea Family: BucculatricidaeP3 Number: 330075.00 MONA Number: 555.00
Comments: Bucculatrix is a large genus of small leaf-mining moths, with around 300 species worldwide. A total of 103 Nearctic species have been described, and many others will likely be described in the future. Braun (1963) covered 99 species in her monograph, and four additional Nearctic species have been described since then.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Braun (1963, p.138)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: This is a tiny moth with an ocherous forewing that has three costal and two dorsal silvery spots. The silvery spots are usually broad and brilliantly lustrous. The following detailed description is from Braun (1963). The face is whitish ocherous, and the tuft reddish ocherous to brownish ocherous. The eye-cap is white, and the antennal stalk annulated with brown. The thorax is brownish ocherous, and the tegulae and extreme base of the forewing is pale whitish ocherous. The forewing ground color is pale ocherous to dark brownish ocherous, and the marks are brilliant silvery and more or less iridescent. There is a large patch of black raised scales at the middle of the dorsum that lies just within the dorsal margin and attains the fold. A silvery spot is present immediately anterior to this. There are three oblique and equally spaced silvery marks on the costa. The first extends obliquely across the wing to the dorsal margin, is just basal of the patch of raised scales, and is broken on the fold. The second extends from just before the middle of the costa, is shorter and narrower than the first, and does not reach the middle of the wing. The third is at two-thirds of the costa and points towards the tornus. Its apex is a little beyond a larger triangular spot on the dorsum that is near the tornus. At the apex there is a black apical spot that contains a few raised scales. It is margined inwardly by a narrow curved silvery iridescent streak that does not reach either margin. The ground color is deepened by dark-tipped scales between it and a silver spot near the tornus. A few raised black scales (easily lost) are on the termen just above the tornus. A line of black-tipped scales at the base of the cilia curves around the apex and continues to the tornus, and is connected at the apex to the black apical spot by the raised scales. The hindwing and cilia vary from pale brownish or reddish ocherous to dark fuscous. The legs are pale ocherous, and shaded with fuscous in the darkest specimens only. The abdomen is pale ocherous, sometimes darkened above with dark fuscous shading. Braun (1963) noted that Bucculatrix quinquenotella is closely allied to B. trifasciella, but differs in the brilliant luster of the marks, in having an additional silvery spot on the dorsum basad of the raised scales, and the position of the ciliary line, which is connected to the apical spot in B. quinquenotella, but separated from it in B. trifasciella. Specimens in poor condition are best separated from B. trifasciella by differences in genitalia, especially those of the females.
Wingspan: 7-8 mm (Braun, 1963)
Adult Structural Features: The male and female genitalia, along with associated scale tufts and patches, are distinctive and are described and illustrated by Braun (1963). The following are her verbatim descriptions. The male genitalia are very similar to those of B. trifasciella, except that the harpes are larger and broader and exceed the socii. The latter are not widely separated, and the aedeagus scarcely bulges before the acuminate apex. An elongated group of minute cornuti are present. The scale sac is large. Braun's (1963) verbatim description of the female genitalia follows. Sternite of segment 7 sculptured, the lobes fringed with long scales, scales of posterior dorsal margin of 7 shorter; on intersegmental membrane and ventral to ostium, a curved row of very small scales; on each side of sternite of 8, an elongate patch of specialized scales; at anterior margin of tergite of 8, a double row of small specialized scales; margin of ostium with two outwardly directed acutely pointed processes; signum as in B. trifasciella.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Very little is known about the larval life history. There is a single museum label record of an adult reared from Northern Red Oak, but no details were provided. The cocoons are pale brown with six or seven ridges that tend to fuse or anastomosis.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Bucculatrix quinquenotella is found in eastern North America. The range includes southern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia) and portions of the eastern US. Scattered records have been documented in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina. As of 2021, we have a single site record from Macon Co. (Highlands), where a series of adults were collected in July and August. Although there are numerous records for this species prior to Braun's (1963) work, we are unaware of any recent records, including no records on MPG, BugGuide, BAMONA, or BOLD.
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: Adults have been found from May through September in areas outside of North Carolina. Our records for North Carolina are all from Highlands, where 23 males and females were collected between 5 July and 20 August (Braun, 1963).
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: The habitats are poorly documented. The only documented host is Northern Red Oak, which is commonly found in rich hardwood forests at mesic to somewhat drier sites.
Larval Host Plants: Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra) is the only documented host. - View
Observation Methods: The adults regularly visit lights.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Montane Oak-Hickory Forests
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR [SH]
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments: We only have historical records from Highlands from 1958.