Tegeticula maculata

Tegeticula maculata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Prodoxidae
Genus:	Tegeticula
Species:	T. maculata
Binomial name
Tegeticula maculata (Riley, 1881)
Synonyms
Pronuba maculata Riley, 1881 Pronuba apicella Dyar, 1903 Thia extranea Edwards, 1888 Pronuba aterrima Trelease, 1893

Tegeticula maculata is a moth of the Prodoxidae family. It is found in North America in central-southern cismontane California, in the Sierra Nevada north to Fresno County, in north-western Arizona, and from Baja California Norte to the Vizcaino region. The habitat consists of coastal chaparral and montane dry shrubby grassland.

The wingspan is 16–23 mm for ssp. maculata. The forewings for this subspecies are white with two to twelve black spots. The hindwings are medium gray and lightly scaled. Subspecies extranea has a wingspan of 14–19 mm. The forewings are completely black, as are the hindwings, but these are more thinly scaled.^[1]

The larvae feed exclusively on developing seeds of Hesperoyucca whipplei.^[2] It is the sole pollinator of Hesperoyucca whipplei. Pupation takes place in a cocoon in the soil.

Subspecies

• Tegeticula maculata maculata
• Tegeticula maculata extranea (Edwards, 1888)

References

1. TOLweb
2. Riley, CV (1892). "The yucca moths and yucca pollination.". Third Annual Report, Missouri Botanical Garden 3: 99–158.