''Prolita puertella'' 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 ...

of the family Gelechiidae. It was described by

August Busck Augustus Busck (February 18, 1870 – March 7, 1944) was a Danish-American entomologist with the United States Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Entomology. He is best known for his work with microlepidoptera, of which he described over ...

in 1916. It is found in North America, where it has been recorded from

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, California and Arizona. It has also been reported from Baja California. 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 16–20 mm. The forewings are usually pale yellowish white with brown markings. The hindwings are pale fuscous yellow. However, it is a highly variable species, ranging from pale yellowish-white specimens with two prominent dark brown spots on the forewings to brown specimens with the dark brown spots barely discernible. Adults are on wing from August to October.

Etymology

The species name refers to La Puerta, the type location.

References

Moths described in 1916 Prolita {{Gelechiini-stub