BRN 9-2 (uncompressed) - Flipbook - Page 59
Acrolophus kearfotti (Dyar, 1903)
Hodges #0357
Earlier in this issue we discussed the difÞculties of arriving at
the species, or even the genus, level of identiÞcation. In the
case of Datana perspicua (Grote & Robinson, 1865) we
Þnally arrived at a satisfactory determination. On 18 July
2025 we started a similar process by taking the photographs
shown on this page, and the following pages, in Hillsboro.
Again the culprit was a moth, a small moth. I reached out to
the usually authoritative websites and to various subject
matter specialists. Some felt this moth might be in the
genus Givira. This link is to the BugGuide page for that
genus.
My inquiry went out at 10:22 A.M. on 18 July. On the 19th I
received a response, which involved reaching out to another
level of contact, and on the 20th I received another - both
responsive to the (difÞcult) Òtechnical issueÓ of identiÞcation. My inquiries to BugGuide and BAMONA were
responded to the same day. I personally Þnd this amazing. I
am by no means an entomologist, and approach the Þeld
with trepidation, but even with my lack of standing in the
Þeld, knowledgeable (busy) people took the time to review
and comment. (And I might note that several others
responded with useful suggestions about how to proceed
with the identiÞcation question.)
BugGuide (Bob Biagi) responded with the genus Acrolophus,
Tubeworm Moths. Follow the link for additional information
and note that there is a long column of Òsynonyms and other
taxonomic changesÓ. BugGuide lists 53 species in this genus
in the eastern and southwestern parts of the U.S. Several
more species within the genus are awaiting description. The
image galleries for the genus match well with the individual
shown here. Range information on many of the species is
minimal to nonexistent. iNaturalist provides an identiÞcation key for 19 of the eastern species. The iNaturalist
reference notes ÒThere are several undescribed species, and
identiÞcation in the West is challenging due to the lack of
available references.Ó
The images on this and the next two pages are those which I
posted with my inquiry.
Thinking small for a moment, this moth was about 10 mm
long. I cropped the top image on the next page for the
detail images on that page. At this point we are getting
small, really small.
Butterßies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)
responded with Acrolophus kearfotti, a new species for New
Mexico. The individual shown here is darker than the
images of this species I have found, but the general patterns
are right.
The center and bottom left photos on the next page show
several characteristics of moth scales. These scales are
chitin-based, overlap, and cover (other than eyes and such)
the bodies of moths. Sooooo É. Small, think really small.
There may be a theme developing here.
But let me digress from the substantive topic of moth
identiÞcation to note the substantive topic of community.
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