''Acoloithus falsarius'', or Clemens' false skeletonizer, is a

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

species in the zygaenid subfamily

Procridinae Procridinae is a subfamily of the family Zygaenidae. Selected genera * ''Aethioprocris'' Alberti, 1954 * ''Alteramenelikia'' Alberti, 1971 * ''Acoloithus'' Clemens, 1860 * ''Adscita'' Retzius, 1783 * ''Ankasocris'' Viette, 1965 * ''Artona'' Wa ...

. The species occurs in North America and was described by

James Brackenridge Clemens James Brackenridge Clemens (31 January 1825, in Wheeling, West Virginia, Wheeling, Virginia – 11 January 1867, in Easton, Pennsylvania) was an American entomologist who specialized in Lepidoptera. He described many new species. His collection of ...

in 1860. ''A. falsarius'' has

Hodges number A MONA number (short for Moths of North America), or Hodges number after Ronald W. Hodges, is part of a Numbering scheme, numbering system for List of moths of North America, North American moths found north of Mexico in the Continental United Sta ...

4629 and is the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, 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 spe ...

of genus ''

Acoloithus ''Acoloithus'' is a genus of moths of the family Zygaenidae The Zygaenidae moths are a family of Lepidoptera. The majority of zygaenids are tropical, but they are nevertheless quite well represented in temperate regions. Some of the 1000 or ...

''.

Larva A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

e are known to feed on ''

Vitis ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 81 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus consists of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, bot ...

'' spp. and ''

Ampelopsis ''Ampelopsis'', commonly known as peppervine or porcelainberry, is a genus of climbing shrubs, in the grape family Vitaceae. The name is derived from the (''ampelos''), which means "vine". The genus was named in 1803. It is disjunctly distribute ...

'' spp.

Appearance and behavior

Adults of ''A. falsarius'' have a wingspan of approx. 15 mm, a length of 9 to 10 mm, and are black with a broken orange collar. Larvae have a length of 8 to 9 mm. In

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, ''Acoloithus falsarius'' has two generations per year.

References

Procridinae Moths of North America Moths described in 1860 Taxa named by James Brackenridge Clemens {{Zygaenidae-stub