What Little Brown Jobs (moths) Are In Need of an ID Guide?

I am in the process of compiling an ID guide for a set of small buffy brown moths that have upturned palpi (thus all in the Gelechioidea superfamily), forewings that are oval to oblong, more or less flat-winged resting posture, and a few dark dots on the forewings. I myself and many of my iNat friends in Texas have been struggling with keeping several of these straight. This will be a Texas-centric list but it should have wider application in the south-central U.S. Below I list the set of about 20 species and genera which I intend to cover, but I would like anyone interested in this topic to chime in with anything else that might need addressing in this small confusing corner of mothdom. Those that are easier to distinguish and will be dealt with only briefly are marked with “(E)” for "easy"….which they are NOT, but they can be readily separated from the rest of the set:

AUTOSTICHIDAE
Autosticha kyotensis - Kyoto Moth
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/214687-Autosticha-kyotensis

Glyphidocera juniperella - Juniper Tip Moth
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/333290-Glyphidocera-juniperella

Glyphidocera democratica - “Democratic Moth”?
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/416888-Glyphidocera-democratica

Glyphidocera dimorphella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/416886-Glyphidocera-dimorphella

DEPRESSARIIDAE
Agonopterix spp. (E)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/126363-Agonopterix

Antaeotricha haesitans (E)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/840127-Antaeotricha-haesitans

Antaetricha osseella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/416874-Antaeotricha-osseella

Antaeotricha unipunctella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/325988-Antaeotricha-unipunctella

Durrantia piperatella (E)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/490824-Durrantia-piperatella

Exaeretia sordidella (E - Doesn’t occur in TX)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/504378-Exaeretia-sordidella

Gonioterma mistrella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/220538-Gonioterma-mistrella

Machimia tentoriferella - Gold-striped Leaftier (E - not documented in TX yet)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/81689-Machimia-tentoriferella

Psilocorsis cryptolechiella - Black-fringed Leaftier (E)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/229229-Psilocorsis-cryptolechiella

Psilocorsis quercicella - Oak Leaftier
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/229230-Psilocorsis-quercicella

Psilocorsis reflexella - Dotted Leaftier
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/147992-Psilocorsis-reflexella

GELECHIIDAE
Anacampsis and Dichomeris spp. (E - most are not confusable with LBJs)

Dichomeris georgiella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/416950-Dichomeris-georgiella

Deltophora sella (E) - Black-spotted Twirler
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/324643-Deltophora-sella

Helcystogramma spp. (E) (3 spp to consider)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/177977-Helcystogramma

OECOPHORIDAE
Inga cretacea - Chalky Inga (E)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/324605-Inga-cretacea

Inga obscuromaculella
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/518250-Inga-obscuromaculella

Please leave a comment, or message me directly if you have other suggestions. Thanks for any input.

Posted on 11 September, 2021 03:01 by gcwarbler gcwarbler

Comments

This one has been at my sheet recently. Not sure what it is, but it does seem to meet the LBJ qualification...

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/94388449

Posted by jcochran706 over 2 years ago

Thanks, Jack. I think your "Hypatima sp. 2" is probably a good candidate to add to the list.
http://mothphotographersgroup.msstate.edu/species.php?hodges=2258.2

Posted by gcwarbler over 2 years ago

Here's another one that may fit (more black than brown, though), unless I've just forgotten how to identify it, which is always a distinct possibility. I want to call it Chionodes or Dichomeris, but I'm not sure...

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101336846

Jack

Posted by jcochran706 over 2 years ago

Add a Comment

Sign In or Sign Up to add comments