''Chloronycta'' is a currently

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unisp ...

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 ...

genus of the family

Noctuidae The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family (biology), family of moths. Taxonomically, they are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly ...

erected by B. Christian Schmidt and Gary G. Anweiler in 2014. Its only species, ''Chloronycta tybo'', was first described by

William Barnes William Barnes (22 February 1801 – 7 October 1886) was an English polymath, writer, poet, philologist, priest, mathematician, engraving artist and inventor. He wrote over 800 poems, some in Dorset dialect, and much other work, including a co ...

in 1904. It is found in mountainous regions from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

to south-eastern

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

and southwestern

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, north to the

Sierra Madre Occidental The Sierra Madre Occidental is a major mountain range system of the North American Cordillera, that runs northwest–southeast through northwestern and western Mexico, and along the Gulf of California. The Sierra Madre is part of the American C ...

. The habitat consists of canyons and mid-elevation wooded areas, particularly riparian corridors. 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 about 34 mm for males and 36 mm for females. Adults are on wing in January and from July to September. The larvae feed on ''

Fraxinus velutina ''Fraxinus velutina'', the velvet ash, Arizona ash or Modesto ash, is a species of ''Fraxinus'' native to southwestern North America, in the United States from southern California east to Texas, and in Mexico from northern Baja California east to ...

''. The first two larval

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'' 'form, likeness') is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, which occurs between each moult (''ecdysis'') until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to ...

s are leaf skeletonizers that remove patches of leaf tissue from the lower leaf surface. Middle and late instars feed from a leaf edge, always from the underside of a blade. Last-instar larva reach a length of about 26 mm. They are waxy green with a pale green head. Prior to pupation, the larvae tunnel into punky wood (when available) to form a pupal crypt. This crypt is largely free of silk, with the exception of that used to weave the

frass Frass refers loosely to the more or less solid excreta of insects, and to certain other related matter. Definition and etymology ''Frass'' is an informal term and accordingly it is variously used and variously defined. It is derived from the ...

-silk cover.Schmidt, B. C. et al. (2014). "Polyphyly of lichen-cryptic dagger moths: synonymy of ''Agriopodes'' Hampson and description of a new basal acronictine genus, ''Chloronycta'', gen. n. (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)". ''

ZooKeys ''ZooKeys'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering zoological taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. It was established in 2008 and the founding editor-in-chief was Terry Erwin (Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian ...

''. 421: 115-137. There is also an undescribed species from Mexico.

Gallery

File:Chloronycta tybo early instar.jpg, Early-

larva File:Chloronycta_tybo_penultimate_instar.jpg, Penultimate-instar larva File:Chloronycta_tybo_ultimate_instar.jpg, Ultimate-instar larva

References

Moths described in 1904 Acronictinae Moths of North America Monotypic moth genera {{Acronictinae-stub