Exelastis pumilio

Exelastis pumilio is a moth of the family Pterophoridae. It has worldwide tropical distribution, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Suriname, Japan, Micronesia, South Africa the Virgin Islands as well as Queensland and New Guinea.^[2][3]

Exelastis pumilio
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Pterophoridae
Genus:	Exelastis
Species:	E. pumilio
Binomial name
Exelastis pumilio (Zeller, 1873)
Synonyms
Mimeseoptilus pumilio Zeller, 1873 Marasmarcha liophanes Meyrick, 1886 Mimaesoptilus gilvidorsis Hedemann, 1896 (not Zeller, 1877) Exelastis pumilio (Zeller, 1873) Marasmarcha tenax Meyrick, 1913[1] Exelastis tenax (Meyrick, 1913) Leioptilus griseodactylus Pagenstecher, 1900 Marasmarcha griseodactylus Hellinsia griseodactylus

The wingspan is 12–15 mm. Adults are on wing in March, April and June.

Foodplants

Larvae have been recorded feeding on Desmodium incanum, Alysicarpus vaginalis and Oxalis sp.^[4] In India it was recorded feeding on Boerhaavia repens from India and Sri Lanka (Fletcher 1909, 1921) and Boerhaavia diffusa from Hawaii (Zimmerman 1958). In Guam some specimens were obtained from Boerhaavia sp.^[5]

Taxonomy

The genus Hepalastis is often treated as a synonym of Exelastis.