Octagonal Casemaker Moth

Homaledra octagonella

A species of moth in the Gelechioidea family.
Octagonal Casemaker Moth (Homaledra octagonella) Casebearer on Ulmus sp(?). ~12 mm or so in length. https://bugguide.net/node/view/229786/bgimage One of the weirdest things I've seen in a while! From what I read today: Casebearer moth larvae live in distinctive portable cases constructed of frass, silk, and plant matter. These larvae mine the leaves of their host plant (which is often specific) and discard their cases once they outgrow them. Geotagged,Homaledra octagonella,Octagonal Casebearer Moth,Spring,United States

Appearance

Wingspan 11 mm.
Octagonal Casemaker Moth (Homaledra octagonella) Casebearer on Ulmus sp(?). ~12 mm or so in length. https://bugguide.net/node/view/229786/bgimage One of the weirdest things I've seen in a while! From what I read today: Casebearer moth larvae live in distinctive portable cases constructed of frass, silk, and plant matter. These larvae mine the leaves of their host plant (which is often specific) and discard their cases once they outgrow them. https://www.jungledragon.com/image/95334/unknown_casebearer.html Geotagged,Homaledra octagonella,Octagonal Casebearer Moth,Spring,United States

Naming

Specific epithet means "eight-sided" for the larval case described as "spiniform, and octagonal, tapering to a blunt point."

Distribution

Records from east Texas to Florida, north to Tennessee and North Carolina.

Food

Larva feeds on lichens which grow on oak trees.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://bugguide.net/node/view/229786
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderLepidoptera
FamilyBatrachedridae
GenusHomaledra
SpeciesHomaledra octagonella
Photographed in
United States of America