Blastodacna bicristatella - Hodges#1460
Blastodacna bicristatella
This record describes Blastodacna bicristatella (species). Recorded family: Elachistidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Wikipedia reference for Blastodacna bicristatella: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blastodacna_bicristatella.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Gelechioidea
- Family
- Elachistidae (Grass Miner Moths)
- Subfamily
- Agonoxeninae
- Genus
- Blastodacna
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
Diet and Behavior
Diet: Larvae feed in hawthorn fruits ( Crataegus )
Additional species information
Species notes from the sources
Etymology: Forbes (1920) p. 329 appears to have erroneously applied the name "B. curvilineella Chambers [sic]" to what was actually Blastodacna bicristatella (Chambers, 1875), an error carried forward by Hodges 1966. As a result, lists show both Batrachedra curvilineella (Chambers, 1872) and Blastodacna curvilineella (Chambers, 1872). Blastodacna curvilineella is not a valid species and specimens identified as that species, such as those at BOLD, usually pertain to Blastodacna bicristatella . Note: May 16-18 - Actually, it was Wellhouse the year before with the incorrect spelling and wrong name from Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, Memoir #56 in 1922: The Insect Fauna of the Genus Crataegus. He describes the caterpillar.
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Blastodacna bicristatella. Species-specific details appear above.
Group overview
Lepidoptera includes approximately 180,000 described species of butterflies and moths. Moths outnumber butterflies roughly 10:1. The monarch butterfly's eastern population has declined by more than 80% since the mid-1990s, and the western population by over 95% since the 1980s. The IUCN lists the migratory monarch as Vulnerable.
Ecological role of the group
Butterflies and moths are essential indicators of ecosystem health. As caterpillars, they are a primary food source for birds - a single nest of blue tit chicks requires ~10,000 caterpillars. Adult moths pollinate many night-blooming plants.
Economic and practical significance of the group
Lepidoptera are critical pollinators. In Europe, grassland butterfly species have declined by almost 50% since the early 1990s. In the UK, three-quarters of butterflies are in decline. In the U.S., five butterfly species have gone extinct since 1950, with 29 listed as endangered.
Recorded sources for this group: IUCN Red List, Xerces Society, USFWS, PNAS, WWF. Imported estimates may describe particular regions or reporting periods.
Photos of Blastodacna bicristatella - Hodges#1460 (3)
Photo credits: Contributed by Charley Eiseman; Additional contributions by Steve Nanz , Jay Greenberg , lee_penner