Atteva punctella (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) in South Africa?

[Chris J. Durden]

Unless it feeds on something else as well as ailanthus, *Atteva punctella*
must be non native to North America and have been introduced along with its
foodplant.
*Ailanthus* is present in the 38 million-year-old volcanic ash beds of
Florissant National Monument in Colorado, but none is known from the
Americas between then and now.
........Chris Durden

At 02:31  19/09/00 -0400, you wrote:
>I wonder what the etymology of Yponomeutidae would be. Anything that
>eats Ailanthus is fine with me. 
>
>M. Gochfeld
>
>nextug at is.dal.ca wrote:
>> 
>> Anyone out there familiar with Atteva punctella (Lepidoptera:
>> Yponomeutidae)? In particular I'm wondering whether this North and Central
>> American species has been introduced to South Africa. I think that its
>> food plant (Ailanthus altissima) has been introduced as an ornamental in
>> southern Africa and I'm wondering if this moth has come along.
>> 
>> Any South African entomologists out there who might be able to answer this
>> question?
>> 
>> Many thanks,
>> 
>> Christopher Majka
>> 
>> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
>> Christopher Majka                       <natural at chebucto.ns.ca>
>> Electronic Resources on Lepidoptera, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
>> URL = http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/lepidoptera.html
>> 
>> The toad beneath the harrow knows, exactly where each tooth-point goes;
>> The butterfly upon the road, preaches contentment to that toad.
>>                                         - Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
>> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
>
>-- 
>
>================================================
>Michael Gochfeld, MD, PhD
>Professor of Environmental and Community Medicine
>UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and
>Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute
>170 Frelinghuysen Road
>Piscataway, NJ 08854  USA
>732-445-0123 X627  fax 732-445-0130
>
>