Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

28 April 2003   9:13PM EST

The identification of this specimen was based on Hodges, R.W., The Moths of North America North of Mexico, Fascicle 6.2, Gelechioidea Oecophoridae (London: E.W. Classey, 1974).  Most of the 11 or so species of Agonopterix known to occur in the Ottawa area appear very similar to each other, especially when viewed by an inexperienced eye such as mine.  Any error with this identification is therefore entirely my own.

The forewing is pale yellow overall, with a reddish brown patch of variable size in the center of the wing, and a half-oval dark brown mark at the costa near the apex.  The specimens I have seen have all had a blackish dot towards the inner end of the cell, and a white dot near the outer end of the cell.  Viewed from above, the thorax and the very base of the forewing are dark brown to black in color.  With regard to size, Hodges indicates a wing length of 9 to 11.5 mm.

According to Hodges, the larvae of A. atrodorsella feed on a variety of Eupatorium and Coreopsis species, as well as devil's beggar ticks and sweet fern.  The adult moths emerge in the fall and overwinter as adults.

I have photographed this species in 2003 on 20 and 28 April, and on 3 and 10 May.