''Chytolita'' is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

litter moth The Herminiinae are a subfamily of moths in the family Erebidae. The members of the subfamily are called litter moths because the caterpillars of most members feed on dead leaves of plants, though others feed on living leaves, and/or the mushro ...

genus of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

erected by

Augustus Radcliffe Grote Augustus Radcliffe Grote (February 7, 1841 – September 12, 1903) was a British entomologist who described over 1,000 species of butterflies and moths.Osborn, H. 1937. Fragments of Entomological History. Columbus, OH: Published by the autho ...

in 1873. Its only species, ''Chytolita morbidalis'', the morbid owlet moth or morbid owlet, was first described by

Achille Guenée Achille Guenée (sometimes M.A. Guenée; 1 January 1809 – 30 December 1880) was a French lawyer and entomologist. Biography Achille Guenée was born in Chartres and died in Châteaudun. He was educated in Chartres, where he showed a very e ...

in 1854.Crabo, L. G.; Davis, M.; Hammond, P.; Mustelin, T & Shepard, J. (2013). "Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from Northwestern North America, with notes on ''Chytolita'' Grote (Erebidae) and ''Hydraecia'' Guenée (Noctuidae)". ''

ZooKeys ''ZooKeys'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering zoological taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. It was established in 2008 and the editor-in-chief is Terry Erwin (Smithsonian Institution). It is published by Pensoft Publ ...

'' 264: 85-123. It is found in large parts of North America, from coast to coast in the north and south to

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

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 ...

and

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

in the west. The habitat consists of deciduous woods and edges. 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 29–35 mm. The forewings are pale grayish white with diffuse, brownish or orangish lines. The hindwings are even paler with faint grayish veins. Adults are on wing from May to August. There seems to be one generation per year. The larvae feed on the leaves of various deciduous trees and have been reared on dandelion, grass, hazel and lettuce. There are also records for dead leaves, including dried white oak leaves.

Taxonomy

''Chytolita petrealis'' is now considered a synonym of ''C. morbidalis'' because

DNA barcode DNA barcoding is a method of species identification using a short section of DNA from a specific gene or genes. The premise of DNA barcoding is that by comparison with a reference library of such DNA sections (also called "sequences"), an indiv ...

analysis has revealed little barcode variation among specimens of both forms examined across a wide geographic range. The smaller, darker ''"petrealis"'' form was known by the common names lesser gray chytolita, stone-winged owlet or lesser luteous snout.

References

* * Moths described in 1854 Herminiinae Moths of North America Monotypic moth genera {{Herminiinae-stub