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Species Anania funebris - White-spotted Sable - Hodges#4958

Black, White and Orange moth? - Anania funebris White-spotted Sable - Hodges#4958a - Anania funebris White-spotted Sable - Anania funebris black and white moth - Anania funebris moth - Anania funebris White-spotted Sable - Hodges#4958 - Anania funebris Id help needed - day flying moth - Anania funebris White-spotted Sable  - Anania funebris
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Pyraloidea (Pyralid and Crambid Snout Moths)
Family Crambidae (Crambid Snout Moths)
Subfamily Pyraustinae
Tribe Pyraustini
Genus Anania
Species funebris (White-spotted Sable - Hodges#4958)
Hodges Number
4958
Other Common Names
often listed as "Anania funebris glomeralis" (the subspecies found in North America)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anania funebris (Ström, 1768)
Explanation of Names
FUNEBRIS: funereal - refers to the black or dark color
SABLE: (adj.) black or dark
Size
wingspan 18-22 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing black with two large white spots and one tiny one; hindwing black with two large white spots; no tuft of orange hair-like scales on legs
Range
mostly northern North America: Newfoundland to Northwest Territories, south in the west to Colorado and California, south in the east to North Carolina
also occurs throughout Eurasia
Habitat
fields, open areas; adults often visit flowers during the day
Season
adults fly from May to July
Food
larvae feed on goldenrod (Solidago spp.) and Dyer's Greenweed (Genista tinctoria)
Life Cycle
Larva light yellow-green, with yellowish head; living on the underside of the basal leaves of Solidago (Forbes 1923). Adults are diurnal.(U of Alberta Entomology Collection)
Remarks
Almost always referred to by its scientific name, which is surprising because the moth occurs throughout Europe, where most moths have widely-used common names.
See Also
Often mistaken for an Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata), which is considerably larger [no overlap in wingspan], has a total of only 8 spots on the wings, and has a prominent tuft of orange hair-like scales on its legs - the "leg warmers" that Hannah refers to in her image of an Eight-spotted Forester.
Print References
(1)
Internet References
live adult image (Butterflies & Moths of Europe and North Africa)
pinned adult image (David Smith, Furman U., South Carolina)