Genophantis leahi was a species of moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

 in the Pyralidae

Pyralidae

The Pyralidae or snout moths are a family of Lepidoptera in the ditrysian superfamily Pyraloidea. In many classifications, the grass moths are included in the Pyralidae as a subfamily, making the combined group one of the largest families in the Lepidoptera...

 family. It is endemic to Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

, Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, Molokai

Molokai

Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...

 and Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is usually 20 mm or less.

The larvae feed on Euphorbia bifida, Euphorbia cordata, Euphorbia hirta

Euphorbia hirta

Euphorbia hirta, also called asthma weed, and known as tawa-tawa in the Philippines, is a plant of the genus Euphorbia.-Uses:It is used traditionally in the Philippines as a curative for dengue fever...

and Euphorbia pilulifera. The larvae hide in a web spun between adjacent leaves and along the stem. They eat one surface and mesophyll of the leaf, leaving the other epidermis. Full-grown larvae are about 15 mm long and light yellowish, with blackish stripes.

The pupa is formed in a slight cocoon amongst the leaves on the ground. It is about 8 mm long and pale yellowish brown.

Source

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Genophantis leahi. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 31 July 2007.
• Insects of Hawaii. Volume 8, Pyraloidea