Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

6 July 2003   10:10PM EST  (top left and right)
20 July 2003   9:09PM EST  (bottom)

My identification of this moth 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).  My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada, who agreed with the identification based on the actual specimen.

Callima argenticinctella has a yellow-orange forewing, brown in the basal area.  The lines are silvery white, and the moth at rest almost looks as if silver thread has been looped around it.  There is some brown shading in the medial area along the inner margin and also along the inner sides of the silvery lines.  In addition, there is a dark blotch at the inner margin near the anal angle.    Covell (1984) notes the white reniform spot at the costa, clearly visible in the bottom photo above.  He also indicates a wingspan ranging from 11 to 12 mm.

Covell (1984) indicates that the larvae of Callima argenticinctella have been reared on corn plants.  Both he and Hodges also state that larvae have been found under the bark of elm trees in the wild.

I have photographed this species in 2003, on 6 and 20 July.