Bayberry Leaftier Moth - Hodges#2907

There has been confusion in the synonymy of this moth and it derives from an historical taxonomic quirk: Walsingham described a new Tortricid from the West Indies, Strepsicrates smithiana , in 1891 in the Trans. Ent. Soc. of London (p. 506) . Then in 1895, he described a different, snowy white Tortricid from Loveland, CO, as Paedisca smithiana , publishing that description in the Proc. Zool. Soc. of London on p. 506 of that journal (note the page number!) . This was an unfortunate double coincidence of specific epithets and page numbers for two different moths. Later Dyar described what he thought was a new bayberry eating moth as Phthinolophus indentanus and mentions that specimens raised on wax myrtle were submitted to Lord Walsingham in 1884 and labelled ' Paedisca n. sp.' . That certainly added to the name confusion. Dyar's moth turned out to be the first of Walsingham's two smithiana 's, not the one in the genus Paedisca . The correct association of references is as follows: Strepsicrates smithiana Walsingham 1891, Proc. Zool. Soc. of London 1891: 506 . Paedisca smithiana Walsingham 1895, Trans. Ent. Soc. of London 1895: 506 . Walsingham's snowy white Colorado moth Paedisca smithiana refers to the moth now known as #3037 Pelochrista agricolana .