Moths of North Carolina
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100 NC Records

Agonopterix canadensis (Busck, 1902) - Canadian Agonopterix Moth


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Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gelechioidea Family: DepressariidaeSubfamily: DepressariinaeTribe: [Depressariini]P3 Number: 420091.00 MONA Number: 878.00
Comments: Agonopterix is a large holarctic genus with more than 125 species, with most occurring in the Palearctic Region. Currently, there are 47 recognized species in North America. Our species are largely confined to the western mountains.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Beadle and Leckie (2012)Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Clarke, 1941Technical Description, Immature Stages: Clarke (1933)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The following description is based primarily on that of Clarke (1941). The labial palp is pale ochreous-white and the second segment is evenly sprinkled with blackish fuscous exteriorly. The third segment has a black tip and a broad black subbasal and subapical annulus. The antenna is fuscous with indistinct black annulations. The head and thorax are pale yellowish gray and the face creamy white. The ground color of the forewing varies from pale yellowish gray to more fuscous. The thorax and base of the wing is slightly lighter than the forewing ground color and forms a curved band that extends to the costa before grading into a series of alternating light and dark blotches. These extend along the costa to the termen where they are reduced in size. A small black spot is present at the base of the wing, and a rapidly fading blackish-fuscous shade adjoins the light basal band. The remainder of the forewing ground is sprinkled with black specks. There are three well-developed black discal spots, including a pair of oblique spots at about one-third and a third spot at the end of the cell. A blackish to blackish-fuscous blotch occurs just posterior to the oblique pair of discal spots and somewhat more costally. The hindwing is light fuscous, and the legs are ochreous-white and mottled with blackish fuscous except at the joints. This species is best distinguished from our other Agonopterix species by the three black discal spots and the associated blackish blotch near the mid-wing, the basal band that terminates near the costa, and the narrow blackish-fuscous shading that adjoins the light basal band. Agonopterix senicionella is very similar, but has a light tan ground color, larger and more diffuse dark discal spots, and blackish dusting on the terminal half of the wings on fresh specimens.
Wingspan: 17 mm (Clarke, 1941).
Forewing Length: 7.4-11.5 mm (Hodges, 1974)
Adult Structural Features: Clarke (1941) provided a detailed description of the female genitalia.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: Clarke (1933) studied a population in Washington State that fed on Tall Ragwort and noted that feeding begins in the terminal leaves of the food plant. These are webbed together by the young larvae to form a tube from which they feed on the leaves. As feeding progresses the larvae descend the plants and feed on nearby lateral leaves from newly constructed tubes. When feeding is completed, the larvae descend to the ground, then burrow just beneath the surface and pupate. Pupation usually occurs 2 or 3 days after a larva enters the soil, and the adults emerge 12-14 days later.

Jim Petranka observed larvae feeding on the developing buds of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea) during the early spring months in western North Carolina. The larvae webbed together the stem and clusters of developing flower buds to form a tube and fed on the developing seeds. Individuals occasionally bored into the hollow stem, and two individuals were found within the stem within 4-8 cm of the flower buds and feeding shelters. The pupal stage of one reared adult lasted around 10 days. The older larvae had a dull green to greenish brown abdomen, a reddish-brown head, and a blackish prothoracic shield.
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Agonopterix canadensis is widely distributed across much of southern Canada and the northern and north-central United States. Populations in the west tend to follow the major mountain ranges southward to Colorado and central California. In the eastern US the range extend southward along the Appalachians to western North Carolina. As of 2020, our records are from both the lower and higher elevations in the mountains.
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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