Xylesthia pruniramiella

Clemens' bark moth
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Tineidae
Genus:	Xylesthia
Species:	X. pruniramiella
Binomial name
Xylesthia pruniramiella (Clemens, 1859)
Synonyms
Xylesthia pruniramiella Clemens, 1859 Xylesthia clemensella Chambers, 1873 Xylesthia congeminatella Zeller, 1873 Xylesthia kearfottella Dietz, 1905

Xylesthia pruniramiella, Clemens' bark moth, is a moth of the Tineidae family. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from New Hampshire to Florida and from Illinois to Texas.^[1]

The wingspan is 12.7-13.7 mm. The forewings are blackish brown and luteous brown, somewhat varied with whitish, with patches of elevated scales at the base and along the fold and with an indistinct whitish band crossing the middle of the disc, one nearer the base still fainter and one about the end of the disc, with a white dorsal spot at the inner angle and a whitish streak from the costa above it, with another whitish costal streak between this and the tip. There is a blackish spot at the tip which is white margined before. The hindwings are dark brown, somewhat tinged with reddish.^[2] Adults are on wing from February to December.

The larvae feed on the woody excrescences found on the branches of the plum tree.^[3]

References

1. mothphotographersgroup
2. Clemens, B., 1859. Contributions to American Lepidopterology. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 11: 279
3. Bug Guide