Elachista coniophora Braun 1948

Elachista coniophora new species (Figs. 64, 64a, 119.)
Head whitish, dusted with pale ashy fuscous, palpi whitish, second segment more or less shaded with pale fuscous ; antennae pale ashy fuscous, each segment minutely margined at apex with the whitish color. Ground color of the fore wings white, so shaded and dusted with pale fuscous as to obscure the white except in a broad stripe which extends from hase along the fold to its middle, and is thence bent upward, paralleling the outer cell margin, and diffuses in the apical third of the wing. From near base, dark brown scales form a dotted line through the white stripe along the fold, and margin its lower side along the outer margin of the cell ; occasionally these scales are few in number and the dotted line not clearly formed. Brown scales are scattered in the apical third of the wing and are usually concentrated at apex, forming a dusted brownish patch. The dark line in the cilia extends from costa around apex in a sharp curve, and fades out before tornus. Hind wings pale ashy fuscous, dorsal cilia whitish toward the base of the wing. Fore and middle legs densely dusted with the pale ashy scales, hind legs nearly pure white. Abdomen shaded with pale fuscous above, white beneath.
Alar expanse : 9.5 to 10 mm.
Male genitalia (figs. 64, 64a): uncus cleft to suture, lobes large, a few marginal setae ; gnathos elongate ; sacculus process rather small, with rounded swollen apex, setae arranged in two groups, one half-way from base, the other apical ; anellus elongate, the lobes acutely rounded, strongly sclerotized and bearing a few marginal setae ; vinculum broadly rounded, almost truncate ; aedeagus a short wide cylinder, somewhat swollen at base, no cornutus.
Female genitalia (fig. 119): bursa copulatrix elongate, gradually narrowing to the short ductus bursae, surface sparsely and minutely spiculate, no signum; ductus bursae with a narrow sclerotized band preceding the abruptly bowl-shaped widening before ostium ; ovipositor lobes small and rounded.
Type. — $ , San Diego, California, April (Ricksecker) , [U. S. N. M., Type No. 34827].
Allotype. — 9 , Colfax, Placer County, California, May 1-10 (A. H. Vachell), [U. S. N. M., Type No. 34827].
Paratypes. — 5 i , same data as the type [U. S. N. M.].
Food plant and early stages unknown.
The two localities, although about a thousand miles apart, are in essentially the same vegetation region.
This species is easily distinguished from all other described American species of this section of the genus by the broad white undusted stripe through the middle of the wing, marked with a row of dark scales. In genitalia, it is equally distinct.

Elachista coniophora is a moth of the family Elachistidae. It is found in California, United States.

The length of the forewings is 4.5-5.5 mm. The ground color of the forewings is light gray with a variable pattern. Females are paler than males but have the same pattern. The hindwings are brownish gray. The underside of the wings is dark gray.