Suzuki's Promolactis (1047.1)

Promalactis suzukiella

Family Oecophoridae

Photograph copyright by Tony Leukering

5 July 2012

Near Whitesboro

CMMP block S07

Distribution map

While one might think that this stunning creature would be easy to note, it is actually amazingly easy to overlook. That is because the largest of Suzuki's Promolactis reaches a whopping 7 mm or so (just over 1/4 in)! The new Beadle and Leckie field guide illustrates two related, tiny, orange things in this family, but not this one, probably because it is known to occupy only a small portion of the range covered by that guide.

Despite the wonderfulness of this beast, the thrust of this essay is the Hodges numbers (here, 1047.1), about which many readers may have been wondering. The Hodges numbering system was published in 1983 that gave every species known from the U. S. and Canada (at that time) a number that could be used by all and sundry when cataloging moths. As one might expect in a group that we know so poorly, an incredible amount of new information gathered since 1983 has resulted in lumps, splits, and species additions to the area of concern. Suzuki's Promolactis is one of these, hence the decimal point in the number.

Adding species to the list (either through splitting of an existing taxon or discovering a taxon new to the area or, even, to science) is not that painful. One simply puts a decimal after the closest relative of the new species found on the list and then a '1' (or '2' or '3' or whatever, depending upon how many additions have been made previously). However, because of all of these aforementioned changes, the usefulness of the Hodges numbering system has declined, in no small part due to our more-refined understanding of the relationships within and between moth families, which has seen whole-scale changes since 1983. Thus, there are few long stretches in the numbering sequence in which the numbering actually indicates relatedness.

A new system is in the process of being born, but the delivery will take quite some time, yet, to complete. This system is noted on page 20 of the Beadle and Leckie guide. Robert Patterson (a driving force behind the superb resource that is the Moth Photographer's Group website) has devised a system in which each superfamily (a hierarchical category above family, but below order) receives a two-digit number and each species a four-digit number that is combined into a hyphenated six-digit code for each species. While only one superfamily has been completed to date, that superfamily is a gigantic and incredibly variable one of macroleps that occupies about 1/2 of the Beadle and Leckie guide (pgs. 268-527)! I do not know much more about it, but expect that Robert may be pulling his hair out dealing with the microleps!