Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Tortricidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Tortrix (?) | |
Similar Apoda limacodes, Tortricinae, Tortrix, Tortrix viridana, Limacodidae | ||
Tortrix? florissantana is an extinct species of moth in the family Tortricidae, and possibly in the modern genus Tortrix. The species is known from late Eocene, Priabonian stage, lake deposits near the small community of Florissant in Teller County, Colorado, USA.
Contents
History and classification
Tortrix? florissantana is known only from one fossil, the holotype, number "NHM-I.8429" for part side and "UCM 8579" for the counterpart side. It is a single, mostly complete adult female, preserved as a compression fossil in fine grained shale. The shale specimen is from the fossiliferous outcrops at Station 14, part of the Florissant Formation which outcrops around Florissant. One side of the type specimen is currently preserved in the paleoentomological collections housed in the Natural History Museum located in London, England, while the other side is in the collections of the University of Colorado. T.? florissantana was first studied by Dr Theodore D. A. Cockerell of the University of Colorado, with his 1907 type description being published in the journal Canadian Entomologist. Dr Cockerell did not provide an explanation for the specific epithet florissantana.
At the time of description, the Florissant formation was considered to be Miocene in age. Further refinement of the formation's age using radiometric dating of sanidine crystals has resulted in an age of 34 million years old, which places the formation in the Eocene Priabonian stage.
Description
Tortrix? florissantana is about 14 millimetres (0.55 in) long with a robust thorax. The abdomen is covered by the wings which are preserved in resting position. The antenna are preserved showing minute dark spots at intervals along their length. The fore wings overall length is not specified, however the outer margin is 5 millimetres (0.20 in) and the lower margin is 10 millimetres (0.39 in). The hind-wings are 10.33 millimetres (0.407 in) in length. Most of the fore and hind wing scales are missing eliminating most of the color patterning. The fore wings were possibly striped along the veins with a notable darkening along the apex of the hind wings. The gently curving wing margin, lacking a projection, and the arched costa indicate a member of the family Tortricidae, rather than the similar family Pyralidae.
T.? florissantana is noted to be much larger than the other possible Tortrix species form Florissant, Tortrix? destructus, described by Dr Cockerell in 1917. The placement of both species is noted by Dr Cockerell to be uncertain.