Mystery: Unknown Moth from Tennessee is Boxwood Leaftier Moth

I’ve never seen a moth like this
May 30, 2010
I found it this morning hanging out on our front porch light in Memphis, TN. It was very small – less than an inch. Ever seen one like this?
Tim
Memphis, TN

Boxwood Leaftier Moth

Hi Tim,
This sure is a crazy looking moth, and we do not know what it is.  Microlepidoptera always give us a hard time.  We will post this as a mystery announcement and hopefully we will get some assistance.

Boxwood Leaftier Moth

Thanks.  Someone on BugGuide just identified it as Galasa nigrinodis – Boxwood Leaftier Moth.
Tim

Update:  Moth Identified
May 31, 2010
Bugophile sent us a comment yesterday identifying this creature as a Boxwood Leaftier Moth, Galasa nigrinodis, and we found matching images on BugGuide “Larvae “tie together and eat dead leaves of boxwood.” (1) Boxwood is Buxus, apparently not native to North America. B. sempervirens is called “American Boxwood”, likely due to its longstanding popularity in cultivation. The moth appears to be native to North America–it is unclear what the native hostplants might be, perhaps other genera in the family Buxaceae. Allegheny Spurge, Pachysandra procumbens is one such native plant, but no information can be found on its possible hostplant status.“

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