Chionodes occlusa - Hodges#2101
Chionodes occlusa
This record describes Chionodes occlusa (species). Recorded family: Gelechiidae. Recorded order: Lepidoptera.
Identification and Appearance
Some females in the lugubrella -group have slightly more narrow wings than do males. Sattler (1991: 268) notes . . . some Chionodes species ... , slight sexual differences in wing shape are observed, with the females having distally narrower fore wings than the males. Sexual wing dimorphism of such kind is seen as representing a trend towards brachyptery (Sattler, 1986: 258), and the existence of distinctly brachypterous species in Eulamprotes Bradley and Acompsia Hilbner further supports this interpretation. Huemer and Sattler (1995: 11) reported no observations of flightless females in Chionodes . At Cottonwood Pass, Colorado, I collected a single female specimen of Chionodes occlusus that is strongly brachypterous (plate 5, figure 2). The forewings are very short and stubby, and the hindwings reduced even further. Because females of several North American species in the lugubrella -group are unknown, the question arises whether some of these species have flightless females or the females simply are not attracted to light. Females of this species collected elsewhere are flighted.
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- Superfamily
- Gelechioidea
- Family
- Gelechiidae (Twirler Moths)
- Subfamily
- Gelechiinae
- Tribe
- Gelechiini
- Genus
- Chionodes
Imported taxonomy record. Source availability varies; see the source references and editorial policy below.
About Butterflies and Moths: the wider group
Order-level background for Lepidoptera, the group containing Chionodes occlusa. 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.