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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Depressariidae Members:
Agonopterix alstroemeriana
Agonopterix argillacea
Agonopterix atrodorsella
Agonopterix canadensis
Agonopterix clemensella
Agonopterix curvilineella
Agonopterix eupatoriiella
Agonopterix flavicomella
Agonopterix hyperella
Agonopterix lythrella
Agonopterix pulvipennella
Agonopterix robiniella
Agonopterix senicionella
Agonopterix thelmae
Agonopterix unidentified species
Agonopterix walsinghamella
Antaeotricha albulella
Antaeotricha decorosella
Antaeotricha humilis
Antaeotricha leucillana
Antaeotricha osseella
Antaeotricha schlaegeri
Antaeotricha unidentified species
Bibarrambla allenella
Ethmia longimaculella
Ethmia trifurcella
Ethmia zelleriella
Eupragia hospita
Gonioterma mistrella
Machimia tentoriferella
Menesta melanella
Menesta tortriciformella
Nites maculatella
Pseuderotis obiterella
Psilocorsis cryptolechiella
Psilocorsis quercicella
Psilocorsis reflexella
Rectiostoma xanthobasis
Scythropiodes issikii
Semioscopis aurorella
Semioscopis merriccella
Semioscopis packardella
Psilocorsis
Members:
Psilocorsis cryptolechiella
Psilocorsis quercicella
Psilocorsis reflexella
84 NC Records
Psilocorsis quercicella
Clemens, 1860 - Oak Leaftier Moth
view caption
A late-instar larva from a White Oak leaf tie.
view caption
These two White Oak leaves were tied together by the larva inside; an adult Psilocorsis quercicella was reared from the larva. Note the skeletonized portion of the leaf where the larva fed.
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gelechioidea
Family:
Depressariidae
Subfamily:
[Amphisbatinae]
Tribe:
[Amphisbatini]
P3 Number:
420259.00
MONA Number:
955.00
Comments:
Psilocorsis
is a small genus with around 15 described species and several undescribed forms. They range from southeastern Canada to northern South America, but appear to be absent from the West Coast (Hodges, 1974). Seven species occur in North America north of Mexico (Pohl et al., 2016), three of which have been recorded in North Carolina.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions:
Covell (1984); Leckie and Beadle (2018)
Online Photographs:
MPG
,
BugGuide
,
iNaturalist
,
Google
,
BAMONA
,
GBIF
,
BOLD
Technical Description, Adults:
Forbes (1923); Clarke (1941); Hodges (1974)
Technical Description, Immature Stages:
Clemens (1860); Forbes (1923)
Adult Markings:
The following is primarily based on descriptions in Forbes (1923) and Clarke (1941). The head and thorax are dark yellowish brown and the labial palp is slender, strongly recurved, and pointed. The second segment of the labial palp is ochreous with a dark fuscous longitudinal stripe beneath, while the third segment is fuscous with a median and lateral longitudinal whitish stripe. The basal segment of the antenna is dark yellowish brown above with fuscous and white longitudinal stripes beneath. The antenna is yellowish brown above with darker annulations. The ground color of the forewing is also yellowish brown, but mottled with irregular, short, dark brown to blackish striae and elongated blotches. A dark reniform spot is present, and there is usually a more diffuse dark shading that extends from the middle of the wing to the inner margin. In some specimens the shading may extends beyond the middle, but it is less developed on the costal half. A distinctive adterminal line is composed of dark spots that nearly fuse (rarely fusing completely to form a complete line). The cilia are fuscous with a darker sub-basal band, while the hindwing and cilia are pale ochreous-fuscous. The legs are whitish ochreous with the fore tibiae and tarsi shaded with fuscous. The abdomen is yellowish brown above and whitish ochreous beneath.
Psilocorsis quercicella
and
P. cryptolechiella
are superficially similar, but
P. quercicella
lacks the narrow, elongated striations found in
P. cryptolechiella
. The transverse dark markings of
P. quercicella
are broken and mostly in the form of small, diffuse, and somewhat elongated blotches of dark scales that dust the forewing. The dark suffusion of the forewing at two-thirds is usually in the form of a diffuse blotch that extends from the middle of the wing to the inner margin. In
P. cryptolechiella
the region typically extends as a dark, diffuse band or dark dusting across the entire wing.
Psilocorsis quercicella
is much smaller than
P. reflexella
and has a darker fringe and more complete set of dark adterminal spots.
Wingspan:
13-16 mm (Clarke, 1941)
Forewing Length:
5.5-7.5 mm (Hodges, 1974)
Adult Structural Features:
Clarke (1941) provides detailed descriptions of the male and female genitalia. This species can be distinguished from
P. cryptolechiella
by the cornuti, which consist of a patch of long spines. In
P. cryptolechiella
they consist of one long stout cornutus and a patch of very fine ones. In the female of
P. quercicella
the base of the ductus bursae is uniformly slender and very lightly sclerotized, In
P. cryptolechiella
it has two discrete sclerotized patches, one at the base and the other distad (Hodges, 1974). The hair pencil from the first abdominal segment of the male is strongly developed in both species (Clarke, 1941).
Adult ID Requirements:
Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development:
The larvae are leaf skeletonizers that live in a silk and frass nest between tied leaves. The tied leaves often have 1-3 larvae, and the larvae of other species sometimes reside with
P. quercicella
within the nests (Marquis et al., 2019). In Missouri the larvae occur from May through October and are bivoltine (Carroll and Kearby, 1978). At maturity, they drop to the ground and pupate in dried leaves without spinning a cocoon. Overwintering occurs in the pupal stage. The larvae have a dark, punctate head and three very dark thoracic segments. The body color varies from greenish or yellowish to pinkish-red, and the sides have two rows of small tubercles (Clemens, 1860). Marquis et al. (2019) noted that this is the only species of
Psilocorsis
in North America with an intensely pigmented thorax.
Larvae ID Requirements:
Identifiable from good quality photos, especially where associated with known host plants.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution:
Psilocorsis quercicella
is found throughout much of the eastern US. and in adjoining areas of southern Canada (Manitoba; Ontario; Quebec; Nova Scotia). In the US, the range extends westward to eastern Minnesota, eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Texas, and southward to the Gulf Coast and Florida. As of 2024, our records extend from coastal forests to lower and mid-elevations in the Blue ridge. Populations appear to be far less prevalent in the Coastal Plain than elsewhere in the state.
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