''Stenoptilodes littoralis'' 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 Pterophoridae that is only known from the Hawaiian islands of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. Though it is only known from the Hawaiian Islands, it may be an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

. It is a highly variable species. The larvae of subspecies ''S. l. littoralis'' have been recorded on '' Geranium cariolinianum australe'', while subspecies ''S. l. rhynchophora'' feeds on '' Vaccinium'' species, including '' Vaccinium penduliflorurn'', ''

Vaccinium reticulatum ''Vaccinium reticulatum'', known as in Hawaiian, is a species of flowering plant in the heather family, Ericaceae, that is endemic to Hawaii. It grows at altitudes of on lava flows and freshly disturbed volcanic ash on Maui and Hawaii, and ...

'' and ''

Vaccinium calycinum ''Vaccinium'' is a common and widespread genus of shrubs or dwarf shrubs in the heath family (Ericaceae). The fruits of many species are eaten by humans and some are of commercial importance, including the cranberry, blueberry, bilberry (whor ...

''.

Subspecies

*''Stenoptilodes littoralis littoralis'' (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Hawaii) *''Stenoptilodes littoralis rhynchophora'' (Meyrick, 1888) (Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Hawaii)

External links

*
"''Stenoptilodes littoralis'' (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae)"
Archived fro

September 16, 2006. ''Moths of the Alaka`i Swamp''. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol. Retrieved November 22, 2017. limaicus Moths described in 1882 Endemic fauna of Hawaii Insects of North America {{Pterophoridae-stub