Moth Photographers Group – Acrolepiopsis heppneri

Digital Guide to Moth Identification

077675 – 2490.1 – Acrolepiopsis heppneri – Gaedike, 1984

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Distribution Data for Acrolepiopsis heppneri

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Seasonality
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Acrolepiopsis heppneri (photo above), reared from larva on Smilax tamnoides; larva collected 5 miles south of Charleston, Coles County, Illinois, 18 September, 2009; adult emerged 3 October, 2009. Top panel, adult; center panel, pupa in meshlike cocoon typical of Acrolepiidae; bottom panel, leaf of S. tamnoides with feeding damage of three A. heppneri larvae; the black frass tube (at arrow) adjacent to the leaf midvein is diagnostic for A. heppneri damage, as opposed to that of other leaf skeletonizers that feed on this plant; inset at lower right-hand corner, mature larva of A. heppneri (male individual, as indicated by the bright orange testis).

This is one of two univoltine species of Acrolepiopsis that feed on S. tamnoides in Illinois. Unlike A. incertella, which occurs as a larva in early May (central Illinois), the larva of A. heppneri feeds in late summer and early autumn. Both species overwinter in the adult stage.

Taxonomic Notes:

Acrolepiopsis heppneri Gaedike, 1984, n. sp., Entomologische Abhandlungen, v. 47, p. 179-194.

References

Data compiled and contributed by Terry Harrison from references cited.

Moth Photographers Group at the Mississippi Entomological Museum at the Mississippi State University

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