Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

14 April 2003   9:05PM EST

My identification of this specimen was initially based on Hodges, R.W., The Moths of North America North of Mexico, Fascicle 6.2, Gelechioidea Oecophoridae (London: E.W. Classey, 1974), and subsequently confirmed by Dr. J. Donald Lafontaine of Agriculture Canada, to whom my thanks.

According to Hodges, this species may appear quite different depending on the region of North America where it is found.  The several specimens I have photographed have all been similar to that illustrated above, with a medium gray forewing, with darker blotches at the base of the wing and just before the end of the cell.  All have also had two white dots on each forewing, one at the outer end of the cell, and one at about 3/4 the length of the cell, as described by Hodges.  The latter dot is not always as obvious as in the photo above.  The wing length is reported to range from 7.8 to 11.2 mm.

The larvae of A. argillacea have apparently been reared on several species of willow, as well as on indigobush amorpha and common hoptree (Hodges, op.cit.).  This species overwinters as an adult.

I have photographed this species in 2003, on 14 and 20 April.