Homaledra

Homaledra is a small genus of at least four species small moth of the family Pterolonchidae native to North and South America.

Homaledra
Homaledra heptathalama is sometimes known as the "exclamation moth" - see the wing pattern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Pterolonchidae
Genus:
Homaledra

Busck, 1900[1]

Taxonomy

It was included in the family Coleophoridae by Ron Hodges in 1983. Hodges then moved it to the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the Batrachedridae in 1999.[1][2][3] In 2014, a cladistic analysis performed by Heikkilä et al., made them deem it necessary to reclassify the genus in the family Pterolonchidae.[4]

In 1997 Hodges moved the two South American species Pammeces citraula and P. crocoxysta to Homaledra.[5]

Species

The following species are known:[1]

Ecology

Homaledra heptathalama feeds in the folds on the undersides of the palm fronds, using silk bolstered with its frass to construct a small elongate chamber to which it adds, as it grows, successively larger, more or less rectangular, thick-walled, communicating rooms, usually building up to eight.[8]

Uses

At least two species are pests of palms in Florida.

References
  1. Savela, Markku (5 February 2015). "Homaledra". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. Brown, Richard L. (19 August 2015). "Batrachedridae Overview". Gelechioidea - a Global Framework. Mississippi State University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. Hodges, Ronald W. (1999). "The Gelechioidea". In Kristensen, N.P. (ed.). Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology Vol. 4, part 35. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Vol. 1. Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 131–158. ISBN 9783110157048.
  4. Heikkilä, Maria; Mutanen, Marko; Kekkonen, Mari; Kaila, Lauri (November 2014). "Morphology reinforces proposed molecular phylogenetic affinities: a revised classification for Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera)". Cladistics. 30 (6): 563–589. doi:10.1111/cla.12064. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. Hodges, Ronald W. (1997). "A new agonoxenine moth damaging Araucaria araucana needles in Western Argentina and notes on the Neotropical Agonoxenine fauna (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 99 (2): 272. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  7. Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  8. Robin McLeod, Chuck Entz, Randy Hardy (18 June 2014). "Homaledra heptathalama - Exclamation Moth - Hodges#1421". Bug Guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved 22 December 2019.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)


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