TINY MOTHS ARE POLLINATORS, TOO

Photo by Suzie Savoie May 19, 2026 along the Oregon/California border south of Applegate Lake, Siskiyou County, California

by Dianne Keller

Large, colorful moths like the Ceonothus Silk Moth, ranked the most observed moth species in the Siskiyou Crest Moth Project (SCMP) area by iNaturalist (iNat), are always fun to see.

However, tiny ones, less than 1 cm, once meticulously observed, are amazing.  Most micro moths have the necessary mouth part (proboscis) for sucking nectar, and therefore, are pollinators.  A few lack a functional proboscis entirely so don’t eat as adults.  The six moths featured here, to my knowledge, are pollinators although I found no information as to which plants they pollinate or whether they are generalists like many butterflies.

Seabrooke Leckie developed a rating system in her new moth identification book of how “likely” a species is to be seen.  Over half the species posted on iNat in the SCMP area are rated as “Uncommonly seen” (37%), “Rarely seen” (9%), or perhaps considered too obscure so not included in her book (10%).  (1)

The following photographs taken in the SCMP area and posted on iNat were selected to show some of the unique and colorful details of the rarely noticed micromoths. 

Fabiola quinqueferella (no common name) 

Photo by Annie Parker July 11, 2026 at Whisper Canyon Ranch southwest of Selma, Oregon

Little is known about Fabiola quinqueferella, an endemic member of the concealer moth family Oecophoridae.  In fact, the taxa of the gelechoid moths (superfamily Gelechioidea) are not fully resolved, which leaves their taxonomic descriptions in limbo with scant published information about them.

Larvae feed upon dead plant material defining them as nutrient recyclers.  While eating they usually conceal themselves in webs or a rolled leaf tied together with silk threads.  

Available distribution information shows them in California’s Northern Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  To my knowledge this observation of F. quinqueferella by Annie Parker is the first in Oregon.  Annie is a Louisiana high school science teacher and an enthusiastic iNat user who has posted over 1,100 species of Louisiana moths.

Splendid Sunspur (Aetole extraneella)

Photo by Jennifer S. September 25, 2019 off Old Stage Road south of Gold Hill, Oregon

This exceptionally tiny (4-6 mm) (2) bright orange and metallic silver moth is about the length of a grain of uncooked white rice.  Splendid Sunspurs have the peculiar habit of perching with their spiny, brown hindlegs up. Is this to mimic a flower part? This species is in the family Heliodinidae and are known as Sun Moths. They are among a number of colorful day-flying species and often seen on flowers, most frequently in the fall.

The grublike larvae are leaf miners and pod borers on Clarkia and several willowherb species specializing in California Fuchsia (Epilobium canum).  Initially they create serpentine galleries within the leaf tissue. Then as they grow larger they bore into the immature seed pods.  Most records show this micromoth located in California, but a few outliers are in Nevada, Idaho and extend north through to British Columbia, Canada.

Yellow-spotted Concealer (Decantha stonda)

Photo by Annie Parker July 7, 2026 at Mark’s place on Mt. Ashland, Oregon 

The Yellow-spotted Concealer is in the Oecophoridae family, as is the tiger-striped species Fabiola quinqueferella featured above. This family is comprised of a dissimilar assemblage of moths found worldwide, many of which are in Australia.

This ochreous yellow moth delicately checkered with bluish-black occurs primarily in montane conifer forests but has been found at lower elevations in California coastal areas.

The cylindrical larvae are beneficial to the tree species they scavenge upon.  They provide a service to oaks by feeding on Hypoxylon oak cankers, a fungal disease that can kill.  Lodgepole pines profit from this little caterpillar feeding on Polyporus fungal rot which often enters the pines through basal fire scars.  

Metallic Coleophora Moth (Coleophora mayrella)

Photo by James Conway August 19, 2025 in the Williams area of Josephine County, Oregon

The 3-prong antennas of this lustrous copper-colored Coleophora are quite unique.  Their basal half are covered with densely-packed black scales which enhance the detection of female sex pheromones.  The scales trap pheromones close to the antennae, improving sensitivity while maintaining a manageable size for flight.  Signal detection for these small moths (6-8 mm) is improved by 25%-48% and offset aerodynamic drag costs by increasing mating success.  (Univ of Melbourne)

The Metallic Coleophoras, in the Coleophoridae family, are known as Casebearer Moths.  Their larvae make a shelter of silk with bits of leaf or debris for concealment within a dry clover seedhead.  They feed upon the seeds of the clover and likely came to the US from Europe in the 1600’s as red and white clovers were imported for forage crops and lawn plants.  This moth is rarely seen in the Pacific Northwest, but common in the Eastern US and Europe.  

The photo of the tiny copper-colored moth with the strange antennas was posted on iNat by James Conway, an amateur mycologist based in Portland, Oregon.

Argyresthia libocedrella (no common name)

Photo by Dianne Keller May 10, 2026 at my backyard moth light trap in Ashland, Oregon

Argyresthia libocedrella at 6–7 mm long is known as the “Shiny Headstand Moth” from its bright golden color and peculiar habit of perching with its head pressed to the substrate and wings wrapped around a diagonally raised body.  The moth in the photo arrived at my moth light trap from the large Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) in my neighbor’s yard.  The larvae feed by mining inside the cedar’s green cones, seeds, and needles.

The adult’s metallic coloration and the larvae’s internal feeding habit gave justification for moving this species from the Yponomeutidae family into a separate family Argyresthiidae.  Argyresthiid moths are little explored and no doubt many remain to be discovered and named.

Similar Ancylis Complex (Ancylis columbiana/simuloides)

Photo by Annie Parker July 8, 2026 at Mark’s place on Mt. Ashland, Oregon  

Approximately seven poorly understood species of Ancylis are found in the western US with considerable geographic variations within species and only slight differences in genitalia.  It was suggested almost 100 years ago that there may be more splitting than is necessary.  Seabrooke Leckie in her ID guide Moths of Western North America has put two very similar species in appearance and distribution into the complex Ancylis columbiana/simuloides.  Glenn Fine noted in an email to me that there is a smaller but otherwise similar moth in our area called Ancylis spiraeifoliana. More research needs to be done to sort through identity and distribution.   

Ancylis are a group of small moths (7-9 mm long) in the Tortricidae family commonly called hook-tips or leafroller moths.   The curved knob at the tip of the forward wing is evident when the moth is seen splayed. The earth-toned coloration patterns of the adults help with camouflage against bark and vegetation.

Larvae fold a leaf of their food plant ceanothus around themselves, construct a silk shelter, and feed from within their cover.  Their immobility is a defense mechanism, as it reduces the likelihood of detection by predators.  

END NOTE

I did my best to put a name to each of the six featured moths but still held doubts.  Micro moth identification is difficult.  Aside from just being tiny, some species appear identical to other members in their genus and it is only through examination of genitalia or DNA analysis that uniqueness can be determined.  So little is known about other species that taxonomic uncertainty still exists.  

Glenn Fine, who I have found possesses a wealth of information about our local moths, reviewed this article and responded thusly:

• The first micro looks like Fabiola quinqueferella to me and I’ve seen this one recently.

• The second, I can’t be sure of this ID for yours or mine but Aetole extraneella is quite possible.

• Decantha is probably stonda, and I’m comfortable calling it that, but Decantha tistra is very similar.

• The Coleophora mayrella and Argyresthia libocedrella seem right.

• Ancylis columbiana/simuloides is fine but note that there is a smaller, but otherwise similar moth, in our area called Ancylis spiraeifoliana.  

Therefore, as you are out moving around and see something tiny flit away take a second look.  It may be a micro moth.  If you can get a good, enlarged, close-up photo, post it on iNat. Your observation will add a tiny bit more knowledge to the databank of this living being.

FOOTNOTES

1. Percentages derived from a database created by Dianne Keller.  This database includes an ever-growing list of species found in the Siskiyou Crest Moth Project area from iNat observations and those listed by Dana Ross as a result of his SCMP surveys.

2. Powell & Opler’s book gives a length of 2.8 – 4.2 mm for Aetole extraneella while The California Species Project reports a length as 8-12 mm.

REFERENCES

• BugGuide.net at Iowa State University Department of Entomology.

• Fine, Glenn, iNaturalist observations and 8/2/2026 personal email.

• Hannink, Nerissa, Male moth antennae act like sieves, separating female sex pheromones from environmental dust, Pursuit, March 14, 2018, University of Melbourne, AU.

• Hepppner, J. B., Fabiola quinqueferella: An obscure California moth formerly in Glyphepterigidae, The Pan-Pacific Entomologist, Vol 60, No 4, Oct. 1984.

• Hodges, R. W. (1999), The Gelechioidea Concealer Moths

• Leckie, Seabrooke, Moths of Western North America, Princeton University Press, 2026.

• North American Moth Photographers Group (MPG)

• Pacific Northwest Moths

• Powell, Jerry A. and Opler, Paul A., Moths of Western North America, University of California Press, 2009.

• The California Species Project