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Homaledra

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Homaledra
Homaledra heptathalama is sometimes known as the "exclamation moth" - see the wing pattern
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Pterolonchidae
Genus: Homaledra
Busck, 1900[1]

Homaledra is a small genus of at least four species small moth of the family Pterolonchidae native to North and South America.

Taxonomy

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It was included in the family Coleophoridae by Ron Hodges in 1983. Hodges then moved it to the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the Batrachedridae in 1999.[1][2][3] In 2014, a cladistic analysis performed by Heikkilä et al., made them deem it necessary to reclassify the genus in the family Pterolonchidae.[4]

In 1997 Hodges moved the two South American species Pammeces citraula and P. crocoxysta to Homaledra.[5]

Species

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The following species are known:[1]

Ecology

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Homaledra heptathalama feeds in the folds on the undersides of the palm fronds, using silk bolstered with its frass to construct a small elongate chamber to which it adds, as it grows, successively larger, more or less rectangular, thick-walled, communicating rooms, usually building up to eight.[8]

Uses

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At least two species are pests of palms in Florida.

References

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  1. ^ a b c Savela, Markku (5 February 2015). "Homaledra". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  2. ^ Brown, Richard L. (19 August 2015). "Batrachedridae Overview". Gelechioidea - a Global Framework. Mississippi State University. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  3. ^ Hodges, Ronald W. (1999). "The Gelechioidea". In Kristensen, N.P. (ed.). Handbuch der Zoologie/Handbook of Zoology Vol. 4, part 35. Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies Vol. 1. Evolution, Systematics and Biogeography. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. pp. 131–158. ISBN 978-3-11-015704-8.
  4. ^ Heikkilä, Maria; Mutanen, Marko; Kekkonen, Mari; Kaila, Lauri (November 2014). "Morphology reinforces proposed molecular phylogenetic affinities: a revised classification for Gelechioidea (Lepidoptera)". Cladistics. 30 (6): 563–589. doi:10.1111/cla.12064. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  5. ^ Hodges, Ronald W. (1997). "A new agonoxenine moth damaging Araucaria araucana needles in Western Argentina and notes on the Neotropical Agonoxenine fauna (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea: Elachistidae)". Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. 99 (2): 272. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  6. ^ Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  7. ^ Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  8. ^ Robin McLeod; Chuck Entz; Randy Hardy (18 June 2014). "Homaledra heptathalama - Exclamation Moth - Hodges#1421". Bug Guide. Iowa State University. Retrieved 22 December 2019.