American chestnut moth
| American chestnut moth | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nepticulidae |
| Genus: | Ectoedemia |
| Species: | E. castaneae |
| Binomial name | |
| Ectoedemia castaneae Busck, 1913 | |
The American chestnut moth (Ectoedemia castaneae) was a species of moth in the family Nepticulidae. It was endemic to the United States, including Virginia, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
Its wingspan was 7.5-8 mm.
The larvae formed galls encircling young twigs of American chestnut, resembling in shape and size egg-masses of the forest tent caterpillar. The moth's synergistic relationship with the North American nut species led to a catastrophic population decline when almost all of the American chestnut trees fell victim to chestnut blight. The American chestnut was driven almost to extinction, and the American chestnut moth was driven completely to extinction.
Sources
- Nepticulidae of North America
- World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Ectodemia castaneae. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 31 July 2007.
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