Pterolonchidae
Guides
Homaledra
palm-leaf skeletonizer
Homaledra is a genus of small moths in the family Pterolonchidae, native to North and South America. The genus includes at least four species, with H. sabalella and H. heptathalama known as pests of palms in the southeastern United States. Larvae are specialist herbivores of palms, feeding colonially on frond undersides beneath protective silk cover.
Homaledra heptathalama
exclamation moth, palm leaf housemaker
Homaledra heptathalama is a small moth species in the family Pterolonchidae, known by the common names exclamation moth and palm leaf housemaker. It was described by August Busck in 1900 from specimens collected in Palm Beach, Florida. The species has undergone multiple taxonomic reclassifications, most recently placed in Pterolonchidae based on 2014 cladistic analysis. It is found in the southeastern United States.