''Acrolepiopsis heppneri'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Acrolepiidae The Acrolepiidae are a family of moths known as false diamondback moths. In modern classifications, they are often treated as a subfamily (Acrolepiinae) of the family Glyphipterigidae. Caterpillars are typically spotted and 10 to 12 mm in l ...

. It is found from

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in the east, south to

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

and

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, and west to Illinois. The length of the forewings 5–5.6 mm. Larvae have been reared on ''

Smilax tamnoides ''Smilax tamnoides,'' common name bristly greenbrier, is a North American species of plants native to the United States and Canada. It is widespread from Ontario and New York State south to Texas and Florida. The plant has been called ''Smilax h ...

''. They skeletonize the underside of a leaf of their host plant from within a black,

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...

-covered silken tube. placed alongside a leaf vein. The larvae are pale green with a pale brownish-yellow head.

References

Moths described in 1984 Acrolepiidae {{Yponomeutoidea-stub