Exelastis pumilio

Exelastis pumilio
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pterophoridae
Genus:	Exelastis
Species:	E. pumilio
Binomial name
	Exelastis pumilio; (Zeller, 1873)
Synonyms
	Mimeseoptilus pumilio Zeller, 1873; Marasmarcha liophanes Meyrick, 1886; Mimaesoptilus gilvidorsis Hedemann, 1896 (not Zeller, 1877); Exelastis pumilio (Zeller, 1873); Marasmarcha tenax Meyrick, 1913; Exelastis tenax (Meyrick, 1913); Leioptilus griseodactylus Pagenstecher, 1900; Marasmarcha griseodactylus; Hellinsia griseodactylus;

Exelastis pumilio is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It has worldwide tropical distribution, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Japan, Micronesia, South Africa the Virgin Islands as well as Queensland and New Guinea.^[2]^[3]

The wingspan is 12–15 mm. Adults are on wing in March, April and June.

Foodplants

Larvae have been recorded feeding on Desmodium incanum, Alysicarpus vaginalis and Oxalis sp.^[4] In India it was recorded feeding on Boerhaavia repens from India and Sri Lanka (Fletcher 1909, 1921) and Boerhaavia diffusa from Hawaii (Zimmerman 1958). In Guam some specimens were obtained from Boerhaavia sp.^[5]

The genus Hepalastis is often treated as a synonym of Exelastis.

^ On the fauna of the plume moths (Lepidoptera, Pterophoridae) of KwaZulu Natal province (South-African Republic)
^ www.papua-insects.nl
^ Gielis, C., 2003. Review of the Pterophoridae from New Guinea, with descriptions of eight new species (Lepidoptera). Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 77(21): 349-391.
^ Bainbrigge Fletcher, T., 1932, Life Histories Of Indian Microlepidoptera (1932), Scientific Monograph (2), Government of India, Imperial Council of Agricultural Research
^ Yano, Clarke & Yoshiyasu, 1996. Insects of Micronesia Volume 9, no. 3 Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae