''Chionodes hibiscella'' 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 ...

in the family

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy has been subject to considerable d ...

. It is found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, where it has been recorded 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

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

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

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 16–17 mm. The costal half of the forewings is dark brown, and the dorsal half including the apex light ochreous brown. The limit between these two parts of the wing is not very definite and somewhat variable. In the dark costal part lighter, yellowish brown, irregular patches are found, one large indistinct at the middle of the costa and one small rather more distinct costal spot at the beginning of the cilia. In the dorsal light part of the wing are ill-defined darker shadings and the veins are indicated darker so as to produce a striate effect. On the fold at the basal one-third is a small nearly black spot which seems to be constant. There is also a row of black dots around the apical edge. The hindwings are light bluish fuscous.Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 25 (1304) : 862
The larvae feed on ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising several hundred species that are native to warm temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world. Member species ...

'', ''

Abelmoschus ''Abelmoschus'' is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within ''Hibiscus'', but is now classified as a distinct ...

'' and ''

Kosteletzkya ''Kosteletzkya'' is a genus of the plant family Malvaceae that includes the seashore mallow (''K. pentacarpos''). It includes about 27 species found worldwide. Although similar in appearance to ''Hibiscus'', ''Kosteletzkya'' typically bears mor ...

'' species.

References

Chionodes Moths described in 1903 Moths of North America {{Chionodes-stub