Elm Leaftier Moth

Canarsia ulmiarrosorella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Pyralidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Elm Leaftier Moth
Photo: Adrienne van den Beemt, CC BY

The adult has a wingspan of about 17 mm. Its larvae feed on the red elm, Ulmus rubra.

Source: Wikipedia

Size

The adult moth’s wingspan measures roughly 17 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

The caterpillars eat the leaves of the red elm (Ulmus rubra).

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It occurs in North America, with records from Massachusetts, Alabama and Oklahoma.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 34 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

JFMAMJJASOND

Source: GBIF

More photos

Elm Leaftier Moth photo 2
Photo: pachips, CC BY
Elm Leaftier Moth photo 3
Photo: Annika Lindqvist, CC BY
Elm Leaftier Moth photo 4
Photo: hr_dragonfly, CC BY
Elm Leaftier Moth photo 5
Photo: IDClaire, CC BY

Questions people ask

How big is the Elm Leaftier Moth?

The adult’s wingspan is about 17 mm.

Source: Wikipedia

What do the larvae eat?

The larvae feed on the red elm, Ulmus rubra.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Pyralidae)

Indian-Meal MothIndian-Meal MothPlodia interpunctellaCan damage your homeGreater Wax MothGreater Wax MothGalleria mellonellaMediterranean Flour MothMediterranean Flour MothEphestia kuehniellaCan damage your homeMeal mothMeal mothPyralis farinalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsBee MothBee MothAphomia sociellaNuisance, not dangerousYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothYellow-fringed Dolichomia MothHypsopygia olinalis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canarsia

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-25 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-25.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.