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Species Cyclophora pendulinaria - Sweetfern Geometer - Hodges#7139

Sweetfern Geometer - Cyclophora pendulinaria - male Sweetfern Geometer on blueberry - Cyclophora pendulinaria Sweetfern Geometer - Cyclophora pendulinaria sweetfern geometer - Cyclophora pendulinaria Cleora sublunaria - Cyclophora pendulinaria - female Cyclophora pendulinaria sweetfern geometer - Cyclophora pendulinaria - female Cyclophora pendulinaria - Sweetfern Geometer - Cyclophora pendulinaria
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 Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Sterrhinae
Tribe Cosymbiini
Genus Cyclophora
Species pendulinaria (Sweetfern Geometer - Hodges#7139)
Hodges Number
7139
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cyclophora pendulinaria (Guenée, [1858])
Cosymbia pendulinaria (Guenée, [1858])
Ephyra pendulinaria Guenée, [1858]
Size
Wingspan 17-26 mm.
Identification
Adult: wings white or various shades of gray to blackish-brown (melanics); discal spots hollow - round on forewing, oval on hindwing; AM and PM lines sharpest but usually broken to dotted; median line more diffuse; shading also variable. [description by Charles Covell]
Specimen identified by DNA analysis:


Melonic variations:


Larva: green with fine pale wavy lines running along back; head yellowish or orangish
Range
Every province and territory of Canada, plus (presumably) Alaska; in the east extends south to Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas.
Season
Records of adults are from April to October. (1)
Food
Larvae feed on alder, beech, blueberry, snakeroot, sweet-fern.
Life Cycle
Overwinters as a pupa.
See Also
Packard's Wave, Cyclophora packardi, has yellowish to orangish-brown wings, and its AM and PM lines are composed of bolder and more distinct dots.
Print References
Guenée, 1858. Plal. (1): 44.
Internet References
live adult images (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
live larva, pupa, and adult images (Jeremy Tatum, Butterflies and Moths of Southern Vancouver Island)