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| 3417 -- Speckled Hemimene Moth -- Hemimene plummeriana | ||
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The black-and-white photo in Miller, listed under Talponia does not agree well with these photos. There is a photo of the type specimen in the USNM to be found at Tortricid.net under Hemimene for which these photos are a good match. The species is named for the type locality, Plummer's Island, situated in the Potomac River above Washington, DC. The island served as a campground retreat for the Biological Club of Washington, many members of which were curators at the USNM (Smithsonian). It is one of the most intensively studied localities in North America, and many species of moths, other animals and plants have been described from there, mostly in the early 1900s. Plummer's Island is about 30 miles from my home. It is possible that these photos represent the first evidence for this species from Prince George's County, or for anywhere in Maryland away from the type locality. Miller's photo is of a specimen from Missouri, so the species, although distributed widely, may simply be poorly represented in collections (a common case for tiny moths, this one is ~ 5.0-5.5 mm in length). | ||
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| References | ||
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Covell Field Guide (not listed) Wm. E. Miller's Olethreutine Moths p. 85 Species page at Moth Photographers Group |