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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Fairy Moths and kin (Adeloidea) » Fairy Moths (Adelidae) » Adelinae

Subfamily Adelinae

Classification · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Fairy Moth - Adela purpurea - male Fairy Moth (Adela septentrionella) - Adela septentrionella - male fairy moth - Adela septentrionella ID request please - Adela caeruleella Moth - Adela singulella Cauchas dietziella Moth - Cauchas Adela astrella? - Adela
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Adeloidea (Fairy Moths and kin)
Family Adelidae (Fairy Moths)
Subfamily Adelinae
Explanation of Names
See guide page for family Adelidae.
Numbers
Arnett lists three genera and 17 species. (1)
18 species in 3 genera listed at All-Leps
Size
Wingspan 4-28 mm
Identification
Very long antennae. Some species found on flowers.
Range
Much of North America
Habitat
Deciduous forests?
Season
Adults fly April-May (Adela: North Carolina, Minnesota, eastern US)
Food
Larvae reported to feed on leaf fragments on ground.
Adults probably feed on nectar, since found at flowers.
Print References
Arnett, p. 659. (1)
Covell, pp. 454-455 Incurvariidae. (2)
Brimley, p. 313, lists Adela bella (Raleigh, etc. April, May). This is a synonym of A. caeruleella, see this listing of synonyms. (3)
Internet References
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists in Incurvariidae, but only one genus and species from Adelidae for the state: Adela caeruleella (14 specimens pinned)
live adult image of Adela septentrionella and other info (Jeremy Tatum, Butterflies and Moths of Southern Vancouver Island)
pinned adult image of Adela purpurea (Insects of Cedar Creek, Minnesota)
classification of Adela in family Adelidae by Davis, in Kristensen, 1999 (Butterflies and Moths of the World)
Works Cited
1.American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico
Ross H. Arnett. 2000. CRC Press.
2.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
3.Insects of North Carolina
C.S. Brimley. 1938. North Carolina Department of Agriculture.
Contributed by Cotinis on 18 February, 2005 - 10:45pm
Additional contributions by jvandyk, john and jane balaban, Robin McLeod
Last updated 14 May, 2009 - 3:53am

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