Moths of North Carolina
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View PDFGelechiidae Members: Dichomeris Members: 5 NC Records

Dichomeris bipunctellus (Walsingham, 1882) - No Common Name

Dichomeris bipunctellusDichomeris bipunctellusDichomeris bipunctellus
Taxonomy
Superfamily:
Gelechioidea		 Family:
Gelechiidae		Subfamily:
Dichomeridinae		P3 Number:
59a0536		 MONA Number:
2274.00		 MONA Synonym:
Dichomeris bipunctella
Comments: Dichomeris is a large genus with several hundred species that occur throughout the world. Hodges (1986) recognized 74 species in North America north of Mexico, with 19 species groups. Most are leaftiers and they use a taxonomically diverse array of plant hosts, including members of 18 families of plants in North America. As of 2025, North Carolina has 35 documented species, and at least one undescribed species from the Sandhills.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Online Resources: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Hodges (1986)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: Although it is not conspicuously marked, Dichomeris bipunctellus is distinctive due to its overall light grayish-orange color, two blackish spots near the middle of the wing, and labial tufts that project forward. When a resting individual is viewed from above, the dark spots form a characteristic square pattern on the wings.

In this species the labial scale tufts, head, thorax and forewings are more-or-less unicolorous and grayish-orange, although the scale tuft, frons, vertex, and occiput tend to be more yellowish-gray. The posterior margin of the thorax has three faint dark-brown dots, with one at the apex and the others to either side. The antenna has a dark-brown scape and a shaft with alternating pale yellowish-gray and darker grayish-brown rings.

The forewing ground color is marked with numerous dark-brown flecks and faint longitudinal streaks. The first of the two prominent dark-brown spots occur at two-thirds the length of the cell, and the second at the end of the cell, with each having several white scales around the margin (Hodges, 1986). The outer margin of the forewing has a series of dark-brown spots that extend around the apex, and the fringe is unicolorous with the ground color of the wing. The hindwing is pale yellowish-gray, while the legs are grayish-brown and become progressively lighter towards from front to back.
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Dichomeris bipunctellus might be confused with Limnaecia phragmitella, but the latter has a different wing shape and lacks the prominent scale tuft on the second segment of the labial palp that projects forward.
Forewing Length: 6.5-9.0 mm (Hodges, 1986).
Adult Structural Features: Hodges (1986) has descriptions and illustrations of the male and female genitalia. Also, see images below for North Carolina specimens.
Genitalia and other structural photos
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larval life history is poorly documented. Darlington (1945) reared an adult from a larva that had constructed a nest of webbed leaves at the tip of a shoot of Sweet-fern.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Dichomeris bipunctellus is mostly found in coastal communities from Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Maine southward along the Atlantic Seaboard to central Florida, and westward along the Gulf Coast to Louisiana and adjoining areas of southeastern Texas. As of 2025, all of our records are from coastal communities where Morella is present.
County Map: Clicking on a county returns the records for the species in that county.
Dichomeris bipunctellusAlamance Alexander Alleghany Anson Ashe Avery Beaufort Bertie Bladen Brunswick Buncombe Burke Cabarrus Caldwell Camden Carteret Caswell Catawba Chatham Cherokee Chowan Clay Cleveland Columbus Craven Cumberland Currituck Dare Davidson Davie Duplin Durham Edgecombe Forsyth Franklin Gaston Gates Graham Granville Greene Guilford Halifax Harnett Haywood Henderson Hertford Hoke Hyde Iredell Jackson Johnston Jones Lee Lenoir Lincoln Macon Madison Martin McDowell Mecklenburg Mitchell Montgomery Moore Nash New Hanover Northampton Onslow Orange Pamlico Pasquotank Pender Perquimans Person Pitt Polk Randolph Richmond Robeson Rockingham Rowan Rutherford Sampson Scotland Stanly Stokes Surry Swain Transylvania Tyrrell Union Vance Wake Warren Washington Watauga Wayne Wilkes Wilson Yadkin Yancey
Flight Dates:
 High Mountains (HM) ≥ 4,000 ft.
 Low Mountains (LM) < 4,000 ft.
 Piedmont (Pd)
 Coastal Plain (CP)

Click on graph to enlarge 		Image showing flight dates by month for High Mountains greater than 4,000 feet, Low Mountains, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain: adults.
Habitats and Life History
Habitats: Our records come from the Tidewater area, including a residential area located close to a sound and a pocosin located a few miles from the coast. Waxmyrtles seem to be the most likely host plants at those sites.
Larval Host Plants: Larvae have been reared on Myricaceae, including Sweet-fern (Comptonia peregrina), Sweet-gale (Myrica gale) and Northern Bayberry (Morella pensylvanica; Hodges, 1986). Hodges also suspected that Common Waxmyrtle (Morella cerifera) and other members of this family would be used in the South. As of 2025, we do not have any feeding records for North Carolina. - View
Observation Methods: The adults are attracted to lights.
Wikipedia
See also Habitat Account for Myricaceous Thickets
Status in North Carolina
Natural Heritage Program Status:
Natural Heritage Program Ranks: GNR S3S4
State Protection: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
Comments:

 Photo Gallery for Dichomeris bipunctellus - None

Photos: 4
Dichomeris bipunctellus
Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-06-21
Onslow Co.
Comment: 		Dichomeris bipunctellus
Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-06-11
Onslow Co.
Comment:
Dichomeris bipunctellus
Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-04-13
Onslow Co.
Comment: 		Dichomeris bipunctellus
Recorded by: Mark Shields on 2020-04-13
Onslow Co.
Comment: