Prolita barnesiella is a moth of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by August Busck in 1903. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from California, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming and Utah.[1][2]

Prolita barnesiella
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Gelechiidae
Genus: Prolita
Species:
P. barnesiella
Binomial name
Prolita barnesiella
(Busck, 1903)
Synonyms
  • Gelechia barnesiella Busck, 1903
  • Lita barnesiella

The wingspan is 22–27 mm. The forewings are brown, of a somewhat variable shade in different specimens, from a reddish or deep purple brown to a lighter ashy or yellowish brown. At the base of the costa is a dark blackish spot, sometimes continued into an obscure oblique streak across the wing. On the middle of the disc is a short oblique blackish streak, and just below this another similar but fainter streak, together forming an arrowhead pointing toward the tip of the wing. At the end of the disc is a short blackish streak edged with light scales. A little before the apical third is a large, dark, ill-defined costal spot and on the opposite on the dorsal edge is another similar spot. There is a series of blackish spots around the apical edge, with the intervening spaces rather lighter than the general colour of the wing. The hindwings are light silvery fuscous.[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Prolita at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. ^ Moth Photographers Group at Mississippi State University
  3. ^ Proceedings of the United States National Museum 25 (1304): 875   This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.