Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

2 June 2005   9:00PM EST  (left and right)
Both photos are of the same specimen.

Coleotechnites quercivorella is one of more than a dozen species of Coleotechnites recorded from the Ottawa area (J.D. Lafontaine, pers. comm., 2001), most or all of which require expert identification.  My thanks to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada for identifying several specimens, including that illustrated above.  For further information on this species, I have relied on Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).

Coleotechnites quercivorella has a whitish forewing, variably dusted and mottled with dark gray to blackish.  In most specimens I have seen, the dark mottling is somewhat organized into a series of three bars angling outward from the costa to join a streak running the length of the middle of the wing.  If the specimen is very dark, however, this pattern is difficult or impossible to discern.  The head is pale powdery gray.  The hindwing is pale.  Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 11 mm for this species.

According to Forbes (1923), the host plant for Coleotechnites quercivorella is oak. He indicates an adult flight season in June.

My records to date for Coleotechnites quercivorella (each date representing "the night of") are in the table below: