Chionodes helicosticta

Chionodes helicosticta
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Gelechiidae
Genus:	Chionodes
Species:	C. helicosticta
Binomial name
Chionodes helicosticta (Meyrick, 1929)
Synonyms
Gelechia helicosticta Meyrick, 1929

Chionodes helicosticta is a moth in the Gelechiidae family.^[1] It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from Texas, Arizona, California and Oregon.^[2][3]

The wingspan is 19-22 mm. The forewings are rather dark fuscous with a short black subcostal dash near the base, preceded and followed by whitish-brown scales or marks, sometimes a black dot beyond this. A shorter black pale-tipped dash is found on the fold somewhat beyond this. The discal stigmata are darker, laterally edged by ochreous-white scales, or sometimes reduced to pale ochreous dots, with the plical rather darker or sometimes blackish, preceded and followed by white scales, obliquely before the first discal. A faint spot of pale ochreous suffusion is found on the costa at two-thirds and there is a marginal series of small indistinct blackish dots around the posterior part of the costa and termen, sometimes accompanied by minute ochreous-white dots. The hindwings are light bluish-grey.^[4]

The larvae feed on Eriogonum nudum.

References

1. "LepIndex". nhm.ac.uk. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
2. Chionodes at funet
3. mothphotographersgroup
4. Exot. Microlep. 3 (16): 490