''Epimartyria auricrinella'' (goldcap moss-eater moth) is a species of

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 ...

belonging to the family

Micropterigidae Micropterigoidea is the superfamily of "mandibulate archaic moths", all placed in the single family Micropterigidae, containing currently about twenty living genera. They are considered the most primitive extant lineage of lepidoptera (Kristense ...

. It was described by Lord Walsingham. It is known from the eastern parts of the United States (from

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Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and 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 ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

) as well as south-eastern

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(from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

). The species occurs in shaded locations, in wet swampy woods, boggy ditches, or creek sides where leafy (moss-like) liverworts grow. The length of the forewings is 4.2–5.6 mm. Adults are easily distinguished from those of the other members of the genus '' Epimartyria'' in possessing uniformly dark fuscous forewings without the yellowish spots present in those species.A review of the North American genus Epimartyria (Lepidoptera, Micropterigidae) with a discussion of the larval plastron
/ref> Adults are diurnal. They can be seen perched on low foliage during the day and can be active even in early morning after sunrise. Mating takes place in the afternoon. The larvae feed on the leafy, moss-like species of liverwort, including '' Bazzania trilobata''. Full-grown larvae reach a length of 5 mm. They are generally brown in color, but lighter brown ventrally. They possess a plastron which indicates the capacity to live for short periods in a subaquatic environment or, at least in a habitat that is water-saturated. Larval development probably spans over two years.

References

Micropterigidae Moths described in 1898 Taxa named by Thomas de Grey, 6th Baron Walsingham {{Micropterigidae-stub