__NOTOC__ The four-spotted yellowneck (''Oegoconia quadripuncta''), also known as the leaf litter moth, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

gelechioid moth __NOTOC__ Gelechioidea (from the type genus ''Gelechia'', "keeping to the ground") is the Taxonomic rank, superfamily of moths that contains the case-bearers, twirler moths, and relatives, also simply called curved-horn moths or gelechioid moths. ...

. It is native to

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

, from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, south to the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, and north to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

(where its northern limit is

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

). Older sources claim its range to extend further eastwards, but this seems to be based on misidentifications of related and very similar species (e.g. '' O. deauratella'' and '' O. caradjai''). It is also found in southern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and throughout the United States.FE (2009), Kimber 010a,b/ref>

Description and ecology

The adults fly from May to August in North America and around July/August in Europe, depending on the location. They are

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

but can be attracted by light. 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 11–17 mm, and it is generally blackish, with two light yellow spots or bands on each forewing and a light yellow pronotum region – the common name "four-spotted yellowneck" refers to this pattern. But related species have a similar or identical pattern, and in some cases (e.g. '' O. deauratella'') can only be distinguished by

microscopic The microscopic scale () is the scale of objects and events smaller than those that can easily be seen by the naked eye, requiring a lens (optics), lens or microscope to see them clearly. In physics, the microscopic scale is sometimes regarded a ...

examination of the genitalia. The

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s live in

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that have fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituent ...

and eat

detritus In biology, detritus () is dead particulate organic material, as distinguished from dissolved organic material. Detritus typically includes the bodies or fragments of bodies of dead organisms, and fecal material. Detritus typically hosts commun ...

such as rotting wood.

Systematics and taxonomy

It belongs to the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Symmocinae The Symmocinae are a subfamily of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. These small moths are found mainly in the Palearctic and Africa. In modern treatments, they are usually united with the concealer moth family Autostichidae. History of clas ...

, which is sometimes included in the

case-bearer __NOTOC__ The Coleophoridae are a family of small moths, belonging to the huge superfamily Gelechioidea. Collectively known as case-bearers, casebearing moths or case moths, this family is represented on all continents, but the majority are found ...

s (Coleophoridae) or united with the

concealer moth Oecophoridae (concealer moths) is a family of small moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. The phylogeny and systematics of gelechoid moths are still not fully resolved, and the circumscription of the Oecophoridae is strongly affected by this. ...

subfamily

Autostichinae __NOTOC__ The Autostichinae are a subfamily of moths in the superfamily Gelechioidea. Like their relatives therein, their exact relationships are not yet very well resolved. The present lineage was often included in the concealer moth family (O ...

. Originally described as ''Recurvaria quadripuncta'' by A.H. Haworth in 1828, the four-spotted yellowneck is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

Oegoconia ''Oegoconia'' is a moth genus in the family Autostichidae. Species * '' Oegoconia annae'' Sutter, 2007 * '' Oegoconia ariadne'' Gozmány, 1988 * '' Oegoconia caradjai'' Popescu-Gorj & Capuse, 1965 * '' Oegoconia ceres'' Sutter, 2007 * '' Oegocon ...

'', which in turn is the type genus of the symmocid subfamily Oegoconiinae (or

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

Oegoconiini, if the symmocids are merged into another family).Pitkin & Jenkins (2004), ABRS (2008), ToL (2008), FE (2009) This species has been confused with its extremely similar but reproductively isolated congener '' O. deauratella''. This is because ''O. quadripuncta'' has a

junior synonym The Botanical and Zoological Codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. * In botanical nomenclature, a synonym is a scientific name that applies to a taxon that (now) goes by a different scientific name. For example, Linna ...

''Oecophora deauratella'' (established by H.T. Stainton in 1849), while the actual ''O. deauratella'' was described (as ''Lampros deauratella'') by G.A.W. Herrich-Schäffer only in 1854. Technically, in such a case Herrich-Schäffer's younger

taxon In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

should be displaced by Stainton's. But since the latter was synonymized with Haworth's taxon before they were all moved to ''Oegoconia'', Herrich-Schäffer's name is not a junior homonym and can be used.

Footnotes

References

* (2008): Australian Faunal Directory &ndash
Symmocidae
Version of 2008-OCT-09. Retrieved 2010-APR-29. * (2009)
''Oegoconia quadripuncta''
Version 2.1, 2009-DEC-22. Retrieved 2010-APR-29. * (1942): Eigenartige Geschmacksrichtungen bei Kleinschmetterlingsraupen Strange tastes among micromoth caterpillars" ''Zeitschrift des Wiener Entomologen-Vereins'' 27: 105-109

n German N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

br>PDF fulltext
* 010a UKMoths &ndash
''Oegoconia deauratella''
Retrieved 2010-APR-29. * 010b UKMoths &ndash
''Oegoconia quadripuncta''
Retrieved 2010-APR-29. * (2004)
Butterflies and Moths of the World, Generic Names and their Type-species
&ndash
''Oegoconia''
Version of 2004-NOV-05. Retrieved 2010-APR-29. * (2008)
Coleophoridae
Version of 2008-MAY-01. Retrieved 2010-APR-28.

External links

Bug Guide
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oegoconia Quadripuncta Moths described in 1828 Oegoconia Moths of Europe