Native
Proteoteras moffatiana Fernald (Tortricidae: Olethreutinae: Eucosmini)
Common names: maple bud borer moth, gray-flanked Proteoteras
FWL: 7.0-9.5 mm
Head, thorax pale green to dark green, often with intermixed black scaling; forewing with ground color dark brown to black, but heavily suffused with mint green scaling in a somewhat blotchy fashion; raised patched of slightly paler green scales present; the crescent-shaped marking from the mid-costa to the apexapex:
the point furthest removed from the base or at the end of the costal area 
is obscured in most specimens; male forewing without costal fold, but with costal hair pencil on dorsaldorsal:
upper, to the top, on the back 
surface of hindwing faintly margined with pale green scales on costal edge; hindwing of both sexes pale brown.
Male genitalia are characterized by an obsolete uncusuncus:
a sclerotized process which is fused to the posterodorsal margin of tergum IX
; lobe-like sociisocii:
a pair of lightly sclerotized setose lobes
present; valvaevalvae:
plural of "valva"
narrow with well-developed cuculluscucullus:
the distal portion of the male valva
with acute anal angleanal angle:
on the hind wing, the angle nearest the end of the abdomen when the wings are expanded 
; sacculussacculus:
the ventral margin of the male valva 
with four long, curved, flattened setae on distaldistal:
farthest from body, distant from point of attachment
edge. Female genitalia are characterized by a narrowly grooved lamella postvaginalis and the corpus bursaecorpus bursae:
a dilated membranous sac at the anterior end of the bursa copulatrix
with two signasigna:
plural of "signum"
.
No published descriptions of the larvae of P. moffatiana exist, but they presumably are very similar to other species of Proteoteras such as P. aesculana and P. crescentana.
In fresh specimens, the mint green forewing color of both sexes and similar color along the dorsaldorsal:
upper, to the top, on the back surface of the hindwing costacosta:
the anterior margin of each wing 
in males should identify P. moffatiana from all other Proteoteras. Worn individuals may need to be dissected for a positive identification.
The following account is summarized from Solomon (1995)Solomon (1995):
Solomon, J. D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706, USDA, Washington, D.C. 735 pp..
Ovipositional behavior has not been observed, but presumably oviposition occurs on stems near developing buds. Larvae enter terminal buds at the junction of leaf petioles and hollow them out through feeding. Overwintering occurs in the larval stage of one of these buds before feeding resumes in the spring. A single larva will mine several buds in such a fashion before completing development. This causes abortion, stunting, or deformity of growing shoots and stems. Pupation site is unknown, but likely either occurs in the hollowed out buds or on the ground below. Adults are active from late June to early September; there is a single generation per year.
The preferred larval host is maple (Acer spp.). Rearings from rose (Rosa spp.) and elderberry (Sambucus spp.) are questionable and require confirmation.
| Host plant | Host plant family | Reference(s) |
| Acer rubrum | Aceraceae | Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.; Miller 1987aMiller 1987a: Miller, W. E. 1987a. Guide to the Olethreutine moths of midland North America (Tortricidae). USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 660: 1-104. |
| Acer saccharinum | Aceraceae | Prentice 1966Prentice 1966: Prentice, R. M. 1966. Vol. 4. Microlepidoptera. In : Forest Lepidoptera of Canada recorded by the Forest Insect Survey. Dept. For. Canada Publ. 1142: 543-840.; Miller 1987aMiller 1987a: Miller, W. E. 1987a. Guide to the Olethreutine moths of midland North America (Tortricidae). USDA Forest Service Agriculture Handbook 660: 1-104.; Godfrey et al. 1987Godfrey et al. 1987: Godfrey, G. L., Cashatt, E. D., Glenn, M. O. 1987. Microlepidoptera from the Sandy Creek and Illinois River Region: A annotated checklist of the suborders Dacnonypha, Monotrysia, and Ditrysia (in part) (Insecta). Spec. Publ. 7. Illinois Natural History Survey.; Solomon 1995Solomon 1995: Solomon, J. D. 1995. Guide to insect borers in North American broadleaf trees and shrubs. Forest Service Agriculture Handbook AH-706, USDA, Washington, D.C. 735 pp. |
| Sambucus sp. | Adoxaceae | Godfrey et al. 1987Godfrey et al. 1987: Godfrey, G. L., Cashatt, E. D., Glenn, M. O. 1987. Microlepidoptera from the Sandy Creek and Illinois River Region: A annotated checklist of the suborders Dacnonypha, Monotrysia, and Ditrysia (in part) (Insecta). Spec. Publ. 7. Illinois Natural History Survey. |
| Rosa sp. | Rosaceae | Godfrey et al. 1987Godfrey et al. 1987: Godfrey, G. L., Cashatt, E. D., Glenn, M. O. 1987. Microlepidoptera from the Sandy Creek and Illinois River Region: A annotated checklist of the suborders Dacnonypha, Monotrysia, and Ditrysia (in part) (Insecta). Spec. Publ. 7. Illinois Natural History Survey. |
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Proteoteras moffatiana is broadly distributed in eastern North America, from Nova Scotia to Minnesota, south to North Carolina, Alabama, and Missouri.
