Red-striped Fireworm Moths and Allies

Aroga trialbamaculella · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gelechiidae

Also called: Red-striped Fireworm, Red-striped Fireworm Moth

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.

The moth has a wingspan of about 12 mm and the larvae grow to roughly 8 mm long.

Size

The wingspan is about 12 mm.

The larvae feed on plants such as sweet fern, trailing arbutus, myrtle, scrub oak, sand post oak, honey locust, and a type of blueberry.

Adults are mostly on the wing from March to October, though they have been recorded throughout the year.

Adults are primarily active from early spring through fall, but can appear year-round.

Its range includes the United States, from Maine down to Florida and west to Texas and Illinois.

Recorded in 15 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, Florida, Oklahoma, Texas.

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

Source: GBIF

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Source: GBIF

What plants do the larvae eat?

The caterpillars feed on sweet fern, trailing arbutus, myrtle, scrub oak, sand post oak, honey locust, and a blueberry species.

When are the adult moths active?

Adults are mostly on wing from March through October, though they have been seen at any time of year.

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

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.