Coleophora texanella

Coleophora texanella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Coleophoridae
Genus:	Coleophora
Species:	C. texanella
Binomial name
Coleophora texanella Chambers, 1878[1]
Synonyms
Coleophora vagans Walsingham, 1907[2] Coleophora coxi Baldizzone & van der Wolf, 2007[3]

Coleophora texanella is a moth of the Coleophoridae family. It is found in the United States, where it has been recorded from Florida to California, north to New York, Michigan and Ohio, west to Kansas and also in Mexico (Baja California Sur).^[4] It has also been recorded from Bermuda and Europe, where it is found on Sicily, in Italy and Greece (Zakynthos, the Peloponnesos and Crete).

The wingspan is 10–11 mm. Adults have a gray head, although it whitish laterally. The forewings are brown-gray with some dark scales along the faintly white-lined veins. The fringes are dark gray. The hindwings and fringes are dark gray.^[5] There are two generations per year.

The larvae feed on the seeds of Portulaca species, including Portulaca oleracea.^[6] They create a trivalved, tubular silken case.

Etymology

Coleophora coxi, which is now considered a synonym, was named after Dr. A. L. Cox, Mook en Middelaar, the Netherlands, who collected the two sexes together and so enabled the researchers to establish their identity.

References

1. mothphotographersgroup
2. Coleophora vagans at mothphotographersgroup
3. Fauna Europaea
4. Shared but overlooked: 30 species of Holarctic Microlepidoptera revealed by DNA barcodes and morphology
5. Coleophora coxi Baldizzone & Van der Wolf, sp. n.: a new Species from the Mediterranean Region (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae)
6. Sur la biologie de Coleophora coxi Baldizzone & van der Wolf, 2007 (Lepidoptera: Coleophoridae)