Bug FAQTelphusa perspicua
Telphusa perspicua · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Gelechiidae
Telphusa perspicua is a small moth with a wingspan of about 13 mm. Its forewings are dark brown with whitish-ochreous mottling and show iridescent green, while the hindwings are almost transparent with steel-blue iridescence and grey-brown veins. It lives in the West Indies, having been recorded on Hispaniola, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Forewings are dark brown, heavily mottled with whitish-ochreous and display iridescent green reflections. Hindwings are very transparent; the veins are grey-brown and the spaces between them shine steel-blue except at the apex.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
The wingspan is about 13 mm.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It belongs to the moth family Gelechiidae.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is found in the West Indies, recorded from Hispaniola, Cuba and Puerto Rico.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 12 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, California, Georgia.
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
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/Telphusa_perspicua
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.