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Digital Guide to Moth Identification

Cosmopterigidae 420363.00 – 1482 – Cosmopterix lespedezae (Walsingham, 1882)

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[T] - © Ken Childs Large Map & Chart Report Errors About Maps

Distribution: OH, KY, TX, AR, SC - Hodges (1978); MS - Koster (2010). Type Locality: none given [Texas], Hodges (1978). Larva and Host Plants: Lespedeza and Desmodium. Description/ Field Marks: See Koster (2010) Genitalia: See Koster (2010) Similar Species: 1493 Cosmopterix clemensella: "The key in Koster (2010) relies on the clemensella forewing being greyish brown and lespedezae dark brown, which is very subjective and hardly accurate. Otherwise clemensella should have a 4x larger outer dorsal spot than the opposite costal spot (lespedezae is 2-3x). I have also found this to be an unreliable character. The only possible distinguishing character I can find is the middle longitudinal white line is shorter in clemensella." - Steven Whitebread (pers. comm., 4/1/2020). Pinned specimens of related species. (Hint: select View by Region on the related species page.)

References

Barcode of Life Data System (BOLD) - Caution: Some specimens shown may not be sequenced. DNA barcode provides evidence of relatedness not proof of identification. Hodges, R. W., 1978. Moths of America North of Mexico, Fascicle 6.1, p. 30; pl. 2.38. order Koster, J.C., 2010. The genera Cosmopterix Hübner and Pebobs Hodges in the New World with special attention to the Neotropical fauna (Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 84(10): 251-575. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (USNM) - Holotype Species Page at BugGuide.Net

[T] - © Robert L. Zimlich

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