Noctuidae
Diachrysia aereoides Dark-spotted Looper
10 9 8 n=10 • 7 High Mt. 6 • N 5 • u 4 • 3 m 2 • b 1 • e 0 r 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 • 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 NC counties: 7 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec o 10 f 9 n=6 = Sighting or Collection 8 • 7 Low Mt. High counts of: in NC since 2001 F 6 l 5 3 - Haywood - 2004-07-02 = Not seen since 2001 4 • i 3 3 - Haywood - 2004-07-02 g 2 Status Rank h 1 1 - Ashe - 1998-07-21 0 NC US NC Global t 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 D Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec a 10 10 9 9 t 8 n=0 8 n=0 e 7 Pd 7 CP s 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 15 5 25 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Three periods to each month: 1-10 / 11-20 / 21-31 FAMILY: Noctuidae SUBFAMILY: Plusiinae TRIBE: Plusiini TAXONOMIC_COMMENTS: One of two species in this genus that occurs in North America (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991), both of which are found in North Carolina. Lafontaine and Poole note that this genus appears to be quite heterogeneneous and that our two species may eventually be placed in separate genera.
FIELD GUIDE DESCRIPTIONS: Beadle and Leckie (2012) ONLINE PHOTOS: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION, ADULTS: Forbes (1954, as Plusia aeroides); Lafontaine and Poole (1991) TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION, IMMATURE STAGES:
ID COMMENTS: A medium-sized Looper, with dull orange, fairly broad and apically pointed forewings and dull fuscous hindwings. Transverse lines are all fine, brown, and run fairly straight across the wing; the postmedian is followed by a pale yellow band that is somewhat metallic and pink shades are present in patches in the basal, median, and terminal areas. The orbicular is small or obsolete; the reniform and suborbicular are both fairly distinct and surrounded by narrow brown lines. No stigma is present.
DISTRIBUTION: Please refer to the dot map.
FLIGHT COMMENT: Please refer to the flight charts.
HABITAT: Our records come almost entirely from high elevations. While we have one record from an open, herb-dominated ridge, most of our records come from forested areas, including stands of Spruce-fir forests, high elevation hardwoods, and cove forests.
FOOD: Larvae have been recorded on several species of herbaceous plants, including members of the Asteraceae, Lamiaceae, and Rosaceae; some woody species may also be used (Lafontaine and Poole, 1991)
OBSERVATION_METHODS:
NATURAL HERITAGE PROGRAM RANKS: G5 S2S3
STATE PROTECTION: Has no legal protection, although permits are required to collect it on state parks and other public lands.
COMMENTS:
March 2021 The Moths of North Carolina - Early Draft 1