Hyposmocoma ekaha

Hyposmocoma ekaha
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Cosmopterigidae
Genus: Hyposmocoma
Species: H. ekaha
Binomial name
Hyposmocoma ekaha
Swezey, 1910
Synonyms
  • Euhyposmocoma ekaha
  • Euhyposmocoma akaha Swezey, 1915 (misspelling)
  • Euhyposmocoma asplenii T. B. Fletcher, 1929

Hyposmocoma ekaha is a species of moth of the Cosmopterigidae family. It is endemic to Oahu, Hawaii. The type locality is the Halawa Valley.

The larvae feed on Asplenium nidus.

This moth occurs wherever the fern is found in the mountain valleys of Oahu. The larvae feed on the under surface of the frond, leaving the upper epidermis intact, which dries and gives the frond the appearance of having numerous dead patches. The older larvae also bore into the rachis, and each has a tunnel of silk and frass extending out onto the frond to its feeding place. It apparently hides in the bored rachis except when out feeding
Swezey, 1954:86
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