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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Cutworm or Dart Moths (Noctuinae) » Apameini » Macronoctua » Iris Borer - Hodges#9452 (Macronoctua onusta)

Species Macronoctua onusta - Iris Borer - Hodges#9452

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited

Macronoctua onusta, Iris borer, caterpillar, August - Macronoctua onusta

Iris Borer (Macronoctua onusta) (Hodges #9452) Monticello Manor Chicago Cook County IL September 2014 Jeff Skrentny IMG_1263 - Macronoctua onusta

Iris Borer - Hodges#9452 - Macronoctua onusta

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 Noctuoidea (Owlet Moths and kin)

Family Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)

Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)

Tribe Apameini

Genus Macronoctua

Species onusta (Iris Borer - Hodges#9452)

Hodges Number

9452

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Macronoctua onusta Grote, 1874

Phylogenetic Sequence # 932442

Numbers

the only species in this genus in North America (1)(2)(3)(4)

Identification

forewing brown with darker brown or gray margins; AM and PM lines thin, black, and zigzagged; wingtips with several concave scallops; hindwing uniformly pale brown (1)(2)(3)(4)

Genitalia:

Range

eastern US and southeastern Canada, plus British Columbia (1)(2)(3)(4)

Season

adults fly in September and October (1)(2)

Food

larvae bore into iris plants and feed on the rhizomes (1)(2)

Life Cycle

see Internet Reference links below

Larva; Pupa; Adult:

Remarks

much information on caterpillar damage and control on the web; see Internet Reference links below

Internet References

Wikipedia

PNW MOTHS

Moth Photographers Group

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

biology and control (U. of Florida)

Old Links: (not working anymore) updated 17 Jan 2024

pinned adult image (CBIF)

pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)

pinned adult image and semiochemicals (pherobase.com)

biology and biocontrol (U. of Wisconsin)

biology and control (Virginia State U.)

biological control using nematodes (Canadian Iris Society)

color drawing of larva (American Iris Society)

Works Cited

1.	Wikipedia

2.	Pacific Northwest Moths

3.	North American Moth Photographers Group

4.	BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 11 February, 2005 - 5:45pm
Additional contributions by Tony-2, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 18 January, 2024 - 9:04am

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