Bug FAQFriseria acaciella
Friseria acaciella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gelechiidae
The moth has a wingspan of about 13 mm and dark purple forewings with a yellow-white quadrangular spot near the base. It lives in Mexico and the southern United States, especially Texas and Louisiana, and its larvae feed on Acacia farnesiana.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Forewings are dark purple, lighter toward the tip and along the dorsal edge. A large oblique quadrangular yellow-white spot appears at the basal third, with one corner extending over the fold. A faint, irregular whitish transverse line runs near the apical third between darker basal and lighter apical wing areas. Hindwings are dark brownish-gray.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The wingspan measures about 13 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae feed on the plant Acacia farnesiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The larva is whitish with a black head.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Its range includes Mexico and the southern United States, with records from Texas and Louisiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas.
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 do the larvae look like?
The larvae are whitish in color and have a black head.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is Friseria acaciella found?
It occurs in Mexico and the southern United States, especially Texas and Louisiana.
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/Friseria_acaciella
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.