''Chionodes hibiscella'' 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 ...

in the family

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 ...

. It is found in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, where it has been recorded from

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. 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 16–17 mm. The costal half of the forewings is dark brown, and the dorsal half including the apex light ochreous brown. The limit between these two parts of the wing is not very definite and somewhat variable. In the dark costal part lighter, yellowish brown, irregular patches are found, one large indistinct at the middle of the costa and one small rather more distinct costal spot at the beginning of the cilia. In the dorsal light part of the wing are ill-defined darker shadings and the veins are indicated darker so as to produce a striate effect. On the fold at the basal one-third is a small nearly black spot which seems to be constant. There is also a row of black dots around the apical edge. The hindwings are light bluish fuscous.Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 25 (1304) : 862
The larvae feed on ''

Hibiscus ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

'', ''

Abelmoschus ''Abelmoschus'' is a genus of about fifteen species of flowering plants in the mallow family (Malvaceae), native to tropical Africa, Asia and northern Australia. It was formerly included within ''Hibiscus'', but is now classified as a distinct g ...

'' and ''

Kosteletzkya ''Kosteletzkya'' is a genus of the plant family Malvaceae that includes the seashore mallow (''K. pentacarpos''). It includes about 27 species found worldwide. Although similar in appearance to ''Hibiscus'', ''Kosteletzkya'' typically bears mor ...

'' species.

References

Chionodes Moths described in 1903 Moths of North America {{Chionodes-stub