An annotated list of the Lepidoptera of Alberta, Canada
Pohl, Greg
Anweiler, Gary
Schmidt, Christian
Kondla, Norbert
ZooKeys
2010
2010-03-05
38
38
1
549
62D
30222
[166,277,1152,1179]
Insecta
Adelidae
Animalia
Lepidoptera
50
51
Arthropoda
family
Small ( 10–25 mmwingspan) day-flying moths with reduced palps, a scaled proboscis, and iridescent greenish purple wings with white marks. Males of most species have extremely long antennae, up to three times the forewing length. Th ey are often found swarming above host plants. Females have piercing ovipositors. Little is known about their biology. In some species, eggs are laid in flowers, where the larvae feed briefly before making a case, in which they drop to the ground and continue to feed, probably on dead leaves. Almost 300 species of Adelidaeare known worldwide. Eighteen species are known from North America, including four from AB. Taxonomic coverage of the Adelidaeis incomplete for North America; Powell (1969)covered the genera Nemophora(as Elasmion) and Adela, but the remaining genus, Cauchas, has never been revised.