''Chionodes messor'' 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 dis ...

. 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

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

.mothphotographersgroup
/ref> The larvae are leaf tiers on ''

Quercus chrysolepis ''Quercus chrysolepis'', commonly termed canyon live oak, canyon oak, golden cup oak or maul oak, is a North American species of evergreen oak that is found in Mexico and in the western United States, notably in the California Coast Ranges. This ...

'', ''

Quercus douglasii ''Quercus douglasii'', known as blue oak, is a species of oak endemic to (and found only in) California, common in the Coast Ranges and the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. It is California's most drought-tolerant deciduous oak, and is a dominan ...

'', ''

Quercus dumosa ''Quercus dumosa'' is a species of plant in the family Fagaceae, belonging to the white oak section of the oak genus (''Quercus''). This tree goes by the common names coastal sage scrub oak and Nuttall's scrub oak. Description ''Quercus dumosa' ...

'', ''

Quercus kelloggii ''Quercus kelloggii'', the California black oak, also known as Kellogg oak, is an oak in the red oak section (genus ''Quercus'', section ''Lobatae'', series ''Agrifoliae''), native to western North America. Although genetically separated from the ...

'', ''

Quercus turbinella ''Quercus turbinella'' is a North American species of oak known by the common names shrub oak, turbinella oak, shrub live oak, and gray oak. It is native to Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado, and Nevada in the western United States ...

'', ''

Quercus vaccinifolia ''Quercus vacciniifolia'' (sometimes spelled ''Q. vaccinifolia''), the huckleberry oak, is a member of the ''Protobalanus'' section of genus ''Quercus''. It has evergreen foliage, short styles, very bitter acorns that mature in 18 months, and a ...

'' and ''

Quercus wislizenii ''Quercus wislizeni'', known by the common name interior live oak, is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, found in many areas of California in the United States continuing south into northern Baja California in Mexico. It general ...

''.

References

Chionodes Moths described in 1999 Moths of North America {{Chionodes-stub