Elachista controversa Braun 1923

Elachista controversa Braun (Fig. 65.)
1923. Elachista controversa Braun. Trans. Am. Ent. Soc., xi.ix, 119.
Type S, Monache Meadows, Tulare County, California [A. F. 11. Coll.],
Head and palpi white, antennae white at base, shading outwardly 10 gray. Thorax white. Fore wings, R 4 and R. separating well before costal margin; pure white, with a few light brown scales ( from three or four to eleven or twelve) scattered irregularly in the outer half of the wing. Hind wings very pale gray, with a faint brownish tinge; cilia white, faintly ocherous-tinged at bases. Under surface of both pair of wings darker. Legs white, fore pair fuscous inwardly, middle and hind tarsi with a little fuscous shading. Abdomen white.
Alar expanse : 1 1 to 12.5 mm.
Male genitalia (fig. 65): uncus lobes large, fringed on the outer margins with long inwardly directed setae; gnathos large, broadly oval; costa of harpe excavated, sacculus processes broadest before apex: anellus lobes setose at apex, obliquely truncate, lateral angles somewhat produced; vinculum abruptly pointed, not produced ; aedeagus somewhat tapering, cornutus a short, broad, blunt tooth-like spine, bent at apex, and bearing on its surface several minute teeth.
Spcci))iens examined: 9 6 , 3 sex undetermined (without abdomens and unspread).
California : Monache Meadows, Tulare County, 8000 feet, $ type, 2 6 paratypes, July 10, 1917; 1 S paratype, July 11, 1917 [A. F. B. Coll.']; 5 $, 3 sex undetermined, July 1-7 [U. S. N. M.].
Food plant and early stages unknown.
From albella (Chambers) and adempta Braun, in both of which a few darker scales are scattered over the outer half of the wing, controversa is at once distinguished by the separation of R 4 and R.-, well before reaching costa ; in both of the other species R 4 and R.-, are united to the wing margin. In male genitalia, the large uncus lobes with long marginal setae separate it from all other white species. The female is unknown.

Elachista controversa is a moth of the family Elachistidae that is found in California.

The length of the forewings is 5.8 millimetres (0.23 in). The basal 1/4 of the costa of the forewings is chocolate-brown. The ground colour is snow-white, often with creamy tinge and often weakly dusted with brownish grey tips of scales. The hindwings are grey. The underside of the wings is grey.