Diagnosis:, female retinaculum consisting of a
group of anteriorly directed scales between Sc and R; abdominal tergites
with a transverse band of spines; antennae without pectin.
Diversity: Worldwide 67 genera and 308 species; six genera and 44
species in North America; as yet, a single species recorded for North
Dakota.
Checklist numbers: 1133- 1135, 1168- 1225.
Biology: Larvae are detritivores and scavengers on dead plant or
animal materials.
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Further reading:
Adamski, David and Richard
L. Brown. 1989. Morphology and systematics of North American
Blastobasidae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea). Miss. Agric. & Forstry
Sta. Tech. Bull. 165: 70 pp.
Hodges, Ronald W., Chapter
9. The Gelechioidea, pp. 132- 158 in Kristensen, Neils P. ed.
1999. Lepidoptera, moths and butterflies. Part 35, Vol. 1 in Handbook
of Zoology. Maximilian Fischer ed. Walter de Gryter, New York. 491 pp.
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