Cosmopterix floridanella

Cosmopterix floridanella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Cosmopterigidae
Genus:	Cosmopterix
Species:	C. floridanella
Binomial name
Cosmopterix floridanella Beutenmüller, 1889
Synonyms
Cosmopteryx nigrapunctella Busck, 1900

Cosmopterix floridanella is a moth of the Cosmopterigidae family. It is known from the United States (Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Louisiana, Alabama), the Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman), Cuba, Jamaica and the US Virgin Islands (St. Croix).

Adults have been collected from April to May in the United States and from December to May and in August in Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and the US Virgin Islands. There are at least two generations per year.

Description

See glossary for terms used

Male, female. Forewing length 3.1-3.9 mm. Head: frons shining white with greenish and purplish reflections, vertex and neck tufts shining greyish ochreous with reddish gloss, laterally and medially lined white, collar greyish ochreous; labial palpus first segment very short, white, second segment three-quarters of the length of third, pale ochreous with white longitudinal lines laterally and ventrally, third segment white, dark brown lined laterally; scape dark brown with a white anterior line, ventrally white, antenna dark brown with a white line from base to beyond one-half, followed towards apex by an annulated section of four segments, four white, two dark brown, two white, two dark brown, one white, three dark brown, two white, two dark brown and eight white segments at apex. Thorax and tegulae greyish ochreous, thorax with a white median line, tegulae lined white inwardly. Legs: dark brownish grey, femora of midleg and hindleg shining white, foreleg with a white line on tibia and tarsal segments, tibia of midleg with white oblique basal and medial lines and a white apical ring, tarsal segments ochreous-white except base of segment one dorsally and segment four, tibia of hindleg as midleg, tarsal segments ochreous-white, spurs white dorsally, brownish grey ventrally. Forewing greyish ochreous, five white lines in the basal area, a short and broad costal from one-quarter to the transverse fascia, a subcostal from base to one-quarter, slightly bending from costa, a medial above fold, from one-fifth to two-fifths, a subdorsal from one-quarter almost to the transverse fascia, a narrow dorsal from base to one-third, there is however some variation in the length of the white lines in the basal area, a broad pale yellow transverse fascia beyond the middle, narrowed towards dorsum and with an apical protrusion, bordered at the inner edge by two pale greyish golden metallic tubercular subcostal and subdorsal spots, the subcostal spot outwardly edged by a patch of blackish brown scales, the subdorsal spot further from base and inwardly edged dark brown, the inner subdorsal spot is sometimes beyond the edge of the transverse fascia and completely surrounded by yellow scales, bordered at the outer edge by two similarly coloured costal and dorsal spots, both spots opposite and edged ochreous-brown inwardly, the dorsal spot slightly larger than the costal, the outer costal spot edged by a narrow white costal streak, a shining white apical line from the apical protrusion to apex, cilia greyish ochreous around apex, paler towards dorsum. Hindwing shining pale grey, cilia pale greyish ochreous. Underside: forewing shining pale ochreous-grey, the white apical line indistinctly visible, hindwing shining pale grey. Abdomen dorsally shining yellow mixed brown, segments banded pale ochreous posteriorly, segment seven whitish, laterally pale ochreous, ventrally shining pale grey, segments banded shining white posteriorly, anal tuft white.^[1]

References

As of this edit, this article uses content from "The genera Cosmopterix Hübner and Pebobs Hodges in the New World with special attention to the Neotropical fauna (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae)", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

1. ^ The genera Cosmopterix Hübner and Pebobs Hodges in the New World with special attention to the Neotropical fauna (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae)