Bug FAQEye-ringed Chionodes Moth and Allies
Chionodes discoocellella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gelechiidae
Also called: Eye-ringed Chionodes Moth, Eyeringed Chionodes Moth
The eye-ringed chionodes moth has brown forewings with a rose or purple tint, a yellow-white spot with a black dot, and several small black and ocher spots. It occurs across the United States, from Maine to South Dakota and down to Florida and Texas. Its larvae feed on several herbaceous plants such as wild bindweed, smartweeds and dock.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Forewings are brown with a rose-purple hue, a yellow-white discal spot containing a black dot, plus several small black and ocherous spots near the apex.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Recorded from Maine west to South Dakota and south to Florida, Texas and Colorado in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to the United States, with records spanning from Maine to South Dakota and down to Florida and Texas.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 35 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Maryland, Ohio.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What does the eye-ringed chionodes moth look like?
It has brown forewings with a rose-purple tint, a yellow-white spot with a black center, and several small black and ocher spots near the wing tip.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is this moth found?
It has been recorded across the United States from Maine to South Dakota and down to Florida, Texas and Colorado.
Source: Wikipedia
What do the larvae eat?
The larvae feed on plants such as wild bindweed, several smartweed species and dock.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Gelechiidae)
Angoumois Grain MothSitotroga cerealellaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Black-smudged Chionodes MothChionodes mediofuscella
Inverse and Kimball's Dichomeris MothsDichomeris inversella
Pink-washed Aristotelia MothAristotelia roseosuffusella
White Stripe-backed MothArogalea cristifasciella
Burdock Seedhead MothMetzneria lappellaSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chionodes_discoocellella
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.