Ottawa (Dunrobin), ON Canada

30 April 2004   (date of moth capture)  (left)
30 April 2004   8:32PM EST  (right)
Both photos are of the same specimen.

My initial identification of Choreutis pariana was based on Internet resources, and subsequently confirmed when I showed the specimen to Dr. Jean-François Landry of Agriculture Canada, to whom my thanks.  For further information I have relied on Covell (1984) and Forbes, William T.M., The Lepidoptera of New York and Neighboring States, Primitive Forms, Microlepidoptera, Pyraloids, Bombyces (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University, 1923).  This species was introduced to North America from Europe in about 1917 (Covell, 1984).

Choreutis pariana has a brown forewing with somewhat diffuse dark brown lines and paler shades that suggest the pattern of a very small noctuid moth.  The basal area is gray-brown with reddish reflections, bounded by a zigzag antemedial line of dark brown.  The inner half of the median is gray brown.  A whitish shade in the outer half of the median extends into the subterminal area, and against this paler shade it is possible to make out a brown postmedial line. The area along the outer margin is reddish brown.  The fringe is also reddish brown, but with a touch of white at the apex.  Forbes (1923) indicates a wingspan of 10 mm for this species; Covell (1984) suggests a slightly greater wingspan.

The larva of Choreutis pariana feeds on apple and hawthorn, and was termed by Covell (1984) the Apple-and-thorn Leaf Skeletonizer.  Forbes indicates that the adult moth flies in August.  My record of 30 April is an unusual date for this species in the Ottawa area, and may indicate that this moth overwinters here as an adult (J.-F. Landry, pers. comm., May 2004).

My only record to date for Choreutis pariana (each date representing "the night of") is in the table below: