Crocidosema sp.

@gcwarbler @ecarpe @jcochran706 @sawwhet @cmeckerman

Hey everyone,

I am tagging those of you who I know were pondering the identity of this Eucosmini sp (e.g., https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96417088) which I think most of us started dumping into Pseudexentera. But, please feel free to pass on this info to others who might be interested. Anyway, I collected several of these Eucosmini, male and female, and sent them off to @mothvet for analysis. The verdict? They are a Crocidosema species, one that probably feeds on lantana, but appearance and female genitalia do not match C. lantana and he could find no other names out there that seem to match it. So, it seems that we are still left with a bit of a mystery moth.

Good mothing!

Rich

Posted on November 12, 2021 05:00 PM by rkostecke rkostecke

Comments

Thanks Rich! Interesting stuff. I've been pondering the identity of ALL Eucosmini, it seems. Heh. (Yet) Another undescribed species...

Moth on!

Jack

Posted by jcochran706 over 2 years ago

Very interesting, Rich. At least we're one step closer to figuring it out. Maybe it'll become "Crocidosema kosteckei"?

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

Super exciting stuff, Rich! :)

Posted by sambiology over 2 years ago

I've gone through all my Tortricid observations and annotated all of this critter as "Crocidosema sp.". They are collected in this set:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=genus&lrank=genus&place_id=any&taxon_id=174134&user_id=gcwarbler&verifiable=any
My observations of the species go back to 2010 and are all and only from Salton Drive. Flight dates for my observations range from August 9 to November 9, peaking in mid-September, and are distributed as follows: August (n = 3), September (7), October (4), November (1).

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

I've updated mine as well. All my sightings were this year but I was taking regular surveys at my house as part of a study I am working on. I saw a total of 14 specimens this summer/fall (3 in August, 8 in September and 3 in October).

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?order_by=observed_on&place_id=any&subview=table&taxon_id=174134&user_id=cmeckerman&verifiable=any
Thanks for the update in information.

Posted by cmeckerman over 2 years ago

I forgot to mention that I am getting a specimen of this DNA barcoded so I will share the results when it is done.

Posted by cmeckerman over 2 years ago

Guess I need to update a few of my photos also or stay as a lumper into unknown genus!

Posted by stuartmarcus over 2 years ago

OK, I went through about 1700 unidentified Eucosmini (which had been IDed anywhere from tribe down to genus) for Texas and found 100+ examples of the present "new" species. The following search collects most of them into one place, although it includes a few other unidentified "Crocidosema" lumped in the search:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?hrank=genus&lrank=genus&place_id=18&taxon_id=174134
There will also be a few more which were previously IDed as some other genus, but now given the Crocidosema ID by me, thus relegating those to the Eucosmini bucket until more folks agree with the new generic placement. Others which may be placed at the subfamily or family level are missed by my search.
In any event, the distribution within Texas is becoming relatively clear: This species ranges mainly in Central Texas from the Austin area up to DFW, with a westerly record in Erath County and an easterly record near College Station. Monika has had a couple of records on the UTC (Brazoria County) that look somewhat siimilar but hers are more heavily marked and I'm not certain they are the same thing. A couple of Stuart's records in Liberty County might be in the genus but don't match the present critter. There seem to be no obvious records in South Texas or the LRGV where there are numbers of unidentified "Croc's". Many of the latter are flying in December-January.
The flight period of the present species continues to be mostly confined to Aug. 1 to Nov. 9, peaking in Sept-Oct., although Rich has had two records of apparently the same species in mid- to late May in Williamson County.

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

Great work, Chuck! Thanks.

Jack

Posted by jcochran706 over 2 years ago

Really appreciate the work and insight. Thanks

Posted by stuartmarcus over 2 years ago

I found a single apparent record among unid. Olethreutinae in Oklahoma:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58913821
Similar searches in Louisiana and New Mexico turned up no records.

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

Thanks for doing the tedious research on all the possible observations, Chuck. I'm happy to hear that one of my observations could be this mystery moth. I'll stay tuned for the DNA barcoding and also be watching for more of these next year. Is it spring yet?

Posted by zdufran over 2 years ago

Zach, you'll probably have to wait about 9 to 10 months since this species is almost exclusively a late summer/fall flier. But you never know!

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

Hopefully I haven't dragged everyone into watching a tennis match from hell, but Michael started considering Epinotia for the subject mystery moth that was labeled Crocidosema. At his request, I sent him a six-moth series for genitalia examination and he has now settled on Epinotia. He is also getting a male moth DNA tested. I updated IDs for all the similar moths I could find in Texas (Sep and Oct sightings) and put a reference link to one of the examined moths in at least one Observation from all the named parties above. I'll look for sightings to update a bit outside that month range once I get some free time.

@jeffmci9 and @mako252 and @lovebirder and @zdufran

Posted by jcochran706 over 1 year ago

For my benefit, who is Michael? Is that @mothvet?

Posted by zdufran over 1 year ago

@jcochran706 Thanks for adding me to this....I was kind of wondering where all the changed IDs were coming from. Hopefully they are current - at least for now. :)

Posted by jeffmci9 over 1 year ago

@zdufran Hi Zach, yep, you guessed it, that's mothvet. Very helpful on all these crazy torts!

Posted by jcochran706 over 1 year ago

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