Moths of North Carolina
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Psilocorsis Members:
181 NC Records

Psilocorsis reflexella Clemens, 1860 - Dotted Leaftier Moth

Taxonomy
Superfamily: Gelechioidea Family: DepressariidaeSubfamily: [Amphisbatinae]Tribe: [Amphisbatini]P3 Number: 420261.00 MONA Number: 957.00
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.
Species Status: Hodges (1974) synonomized several forms which were treated as distinct species by Forbes (1923), Clarke (1941) and others with Psilocorsis reflexella. These included P. ferruginosa, P. fletcherella and P. caryae.
Identification
Field Guide Descriptions: Covell (1984); Beadle and Leckie (2012); Leckie and Beadle, 2018Online Photographs: MPG, BugGuide, iNaturalist, Google, BAMONA, GBIF, BOLDTechnical Description, Adults: Clarke (1941); Hodges (1974)Technical Description, Immature Stages: Hodges (1974)                                                                                 
Adult Markings: The head is ferruginous-brown and the labial palp is light ochreous with dark stripes. The second segment has some fuscous shading exteriorly. The thorax and forewing are ochreous and sometimes strongly overlaid and mottled with reddish fuscous. The inner and outer discal spots are usually ill defined and blackish fuscous. The terminal row of spots (adterminal line) is smaller than those of our other Psilocorsis species, and is sometimes not readily evident. The cilia are yellowish fuscous with a dark subbasal band. The hindwing and cilia are yellowish fuscous, and the cilia have a dark subbasal line. The legs are whitish ochreous and suffused with dull fuscous, while the abdomen is fuscous above and whitish ochreous beneath. Psilocorsis reflexella varies substantially in coloration and patterning. It usually has a darker ground color, but some of our individuals have a paler ground color and lack the dark mottling or striae typical of this genus.

This species is most similar to P. quercicella but is much larger. Two small discal spots are usually evident, and the diffuse dark shading that extends from the middle of the wing to the inner margin is usually greatly reduced relative to that seen in P. quercicella. The fringe of P. reflexella is lighter, and the basal band in the fringe is rather faint, versus blackish and more conspicuous in P. quercicella. It also has a more poorly marked adterminal line compared with that of P. quercicella. Specimens that are light colored and weakly marked superficially resemble Machimia tentoriferella. The labial palps offer an easy way to distinguish between these two. In Psilocorsis the palps are smooth-scaled, slender, strongly recurved and reach back to the prothorax. In M. tentoriferella they are rougher-scaled, particularly the second segment, and shorter. Machimia also has a black mark at the posterior edge of the thorax, and the subbasal band on the cilia is absent.
Wingspan: 18-25 mm (Forbes, 1923; Clarke, 1941; Hodges, 1961)
Forewing Length: 6-11 mm (Forbes, 1974)
Adult Structural Features: Clarke (1941) provides detailed descriptions of the male and female genitalia, and Clarke (1941) and Forbes (1974) provide illustrations. In female P. reflexella the ductus bursae is dilated before the ostium, while in P. quercicella it is not. In male P. reflexella the first abdominal segment lacks the hair pencil that is present in P. quercicella and P. cryptolechiella.
Adult ID Requirements: Identifiable from good quality photos of unworn specimens.
Immatures and Development: The larvae are leaftiers that bind two overlapping leaves together with silk and skeletonizes the tissues. In Missouri, oviposition occurs from May through August and larval development from June through October (Marquis et al., 2019). The final instar larvae eventually drop to the ground and pupate in the leaf litter. The larvae are light yellowish green and have a jet-black head and blackish first thoracic segment (Forbes, 1923). They can be distinguished from other eastern Psilocorsis species by the frontal area, which extends only one-half the distance to the epicranial notch (Marquis et al., 2019).
Larvae ID Requirements: Identifiable from close inspection of specimens or by DNA analysis.
Distribution in North Carolina
Distribution: Psilocorsis reflexella is broadly distributed across the eastern US, and in southern Canada from Saskatchewan eastward to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Populations in the US occur as far west as Minnesota, Iowa, and Oklahoma, and as far south as the Gulf Coastal region and southern Florida. This species occurs statewide in North Carolina. It is well represented in all three physiographic provinces, including at both 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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