Hyposmocoma trivitella is 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...

 of the Cosmopterigidae

Cosmopterigidae

Cosmopterigidae is a family of insects in the Lepidoptera order. These are small moths with narrow wings whose tiny larvae feed internally on the leaves, seeds, stems, etc of their host plants. There are about 1,500 described species...

 family. It is endemic to Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

. The type locality is Haleakala.

Adults have strong white, brown and magenta longitudinal bands on the forewing.

The larvae feed on Elaphoglossum reticulatum and Elapkoglossum gorgoneum. The larvae mine

Leaf miner

Leaf miner is a term used to describe the larvae of many different species of insect which live in and eat the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths , sawflies and flies , though some beetles and wasps also exhibit this behavior.Like Woodboring beetles, leaf...

the leaves of their host plant, resulting in a blotch mine.

Original Description of Larva and Pupa

Taxonomy

There is an error in the construction of the specific name. Dr. Swezey meant to refer to the three vittae on the forewings, which he mentioned in his original description, and the name should have been spelled trivittella. It was originally spelled trivitella, which would refer to "three lives", and the name would have no meaning in this instance.

External links

• Insects of Hawaii. Volume 9, Microlepidoptera
• Species information