''Chedra mimica'' is a tiny

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 ...

of the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Batrachedridae The Batrachedridae are a small family (biology), family of tiny moths. These are small, slender moths which rest with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies. Taxonomy The taxonomy of this and related groups is often disputed. This grou ...

known from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Taxonomy

It was first collected by

Robert Cyril Layton Perkins Robert Cyril Layton Perkins FRS (15 November 1866 – 29 September 1955) was a distinguished British entomologist, ornithologist, and naturalist noted for his work on the fauna of the islands of Hawaii and on Hymenoptera. He is not to be co ...

in the

Waianae Mountains Waianae () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP population was 13,614. Its name means "waters of the mullet". Its etymology is shared with the far northe ...

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

together with ''

Chedra microstigma ''Chedra microstigma'' is a tiny moth of the family Batrachedridae described in 1907. It has only been found on Oahu. It has been found feeding on sedges, plants belonging to the family Cyperaceae, and its larvae host at least three species of ...

'' in the beginning of the 20th century. These Lord Walsingham used, both species mixed together, to construct a

type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes t ...

which he used to describe the new ''Batrachedra microstigma'' in 1907. In 1978

Elwood Zimmerman Elwood Curtin Zimmerman (December 8, 1912 – June 18, 2004) was an American entomologist best known for his two multivolume series: ''Insects of Hawaii'' published by the University of Hawaii Press and ''Australian Weevils (Coleoptera: Curcul ...

noticed this type series contained two species. He re-described ''Batrachedra microstigma'' and placed it the genus ''

Chedra ''Chedra'' is a genus of tiny moths, belonging to the family Batrachedridae. Taxonomy Ron Hodges created the genus in 1966 to accommodate three new species: two from North America and one from Chile. These he found very similar to the genus '' ...

'', and described ''C. mimica'' based on some of Lord Walsingham's specimens as well as new specimens from

Kona District, Hawaii Kona is a ''moku'' or district on the Hawaii (island), Big Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii, known for its Kona coffee and the Ironman World Championship Triathlon. In the administration of Hawaii County, Hawaii County, the ''moku'' of K ...

. The

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

was collected in Kona above in altitude. Zimmerman moved the entire ''Chedra'' genus, including this species, to the

Momphinae The Momphidae, or mompha moths, is a family of moths with some 115 described species. It was described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1857. These moths tend to be rather small with a wingspan of up to 21 mm. The wings are he ...

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 botanical subfamily names with "-oideae", and zo ...

of the

Gelechiidae The Gelechiidae are a family of moths commonly referred to as twirler moths or gelechiid moths. They are the namesake family of the huge and little-studied Taxonomic rank, superfamily Gelechioidea, and the family's taxonomy (biology), taxonomy ...

in 1978. Ron Hodges classified ''Chedra'' in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family

Coleophoridae 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 in temp ...

in his 1983 ''Check List of the Lepidoptera of America North of Mexico'', but in 1999 he placed in the subfamily Batrachedrinae of the family

Description

The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is 6.5–12 mm. It is mostly straw-coloured, but flecked or marked with brown and

fuscous {{Short pages monitor