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Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada
13 June 2007 1:06AM EDT (top left)
13 June 2007 1:05AM EDT (top right)
3 July 2007 10:47PM EDT (bottom)
The two photos at top are of the same specimen.
Cosmopterix fernaldella is one of 5 species of Cosmopterix
recorded from the Ottawa area (J. D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001). My
identification of Cosmopterix fernaldella was based on Hodges, R.W., Gelechioidea:
Cosmopterigidae, in Dominick, R.B. et al., The Moths
of North America North of Mexico, Fascicle 6.1 (London: E.W. Classey and
The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation, 1978). Some
additional information was also obtained from Forbes,
William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive
Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell
University, 1923).
The forewing of Cosmopterix fernaldella is variously
described as grayish orange (Hodges, 1978) or light brown (Forbes, 1923).
There are three fine white lines on the head and thorax. Another three
fine white lines are visible in the basal 2/3 of the forewing, the uppermost and
innermost of which begins at or near the costa close to the base, with the other
two lines shorter and farther outward and downward. A grayish to yellowish
orange fascia crosses the wing a short distance beyond the midpoint, bounded on
the inside by a silvery bar of raised scales with a short streak of black
extending outward into the fascia. The silver bar at the outer edge of the
fascia is broken, and the orange color of the fascia runs out through the break,
extending into a fine pale line right to the apex of the wing. The wing
length ranges from 4.5 to 5.5 mm (Hodges, 1978); Forbes (1923) gives the
wingspan as 8 to 10 mm.
According to Hodges (1978), the larva of Cosmopterix
fernaldella
is a leaf-miner on sedges (Carex species). He indicates the adult moth flies
from early June through July, with most records from mid- to late July.
My records to date for Cosmopterix fernaldella (each date
representing "the night of") are in the table below: |
