''Parategeticula ecdysiastica'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Prodoxidae The Prodoxidae are a family of moths, generally small in size and nondescript in appearance. They include species of moderate pest status, such as the Lampronia capitella, currant shoot borer, and others of considerable ecological and evolutiona ...

. It is found in the Sierra de la Laguna Mountains of the Cape region of

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

The

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

is about 25 mm. The forewings are tannish white, with a very light scattering of linear white scales. The hindwings are clear-translucent, with very scattered white linear scales above and below., 2008, ''Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 152 (2): 297-31

/ref> Adults are possibly on wing in July. The larvae feed on '' Yucca capensis''. Young larvae feed inside

gall Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...

-like tissue modified from three seeds. Full-grown larvae prepare exit paths to the fruit surface, and have been observed consuming five developed seeds adjacent to the site of the consumed, modified tissue.

Etymology

The species epithet is derived from Greek ''ecdysiast'' (meaning one who sheds layers) and refers to the near complete loss of all wing scales during adult emergence.

References

Moths described in 2008 Prodoxidae {{Incurvarioidea-stub