Proceedings of 

 the United States 

 National Museum 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION . WASHINGTON, B.C. 



Volume 114 1964 Number 3475 



MOTHS OF THE FAMILY ACROLOPHIDAE 



IN AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO 



(MICROLEPIDOPTERA) 



By Frank F. Hasbrouck^ 



Introduction 



The ACROLOPHIDAE, a family of small to medium moths of predom- 

 inantly brownish coloration, have no common name and are not of 

 great economic importance in the United States; but the larvae of 

 these moths, sometimes known as "burrowing web worms," attack 

 grasses (including corn), bromeliads, and orchids, usually feeding on 

 the roots. The group has long been in need of a monographic revision. 



These insects, presumably limited to the Western Hemisphere, 

 exhibit perhaps a greater affinity toward the Tineidae than toward any 

 other family in North America. The literature referable to the North 

 American segment of this family is not extensive and is largely con- 

 fined to the original descriptions of genera and species. Accounts of 

 the immature stages of the species are quite rare. Since the appear- 

 ance of MejTick's four species in 1919 no new acrolophids have been 

 described from the United States, and the literature has exhibited 

 very little new information of any Idnd regarding the family. 



'Department of Zoology, Arizona State University, Tempe. Arizona. 



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