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Species Eudryas grata - Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Hodges#9301

Eudryas grata - Beautiful Wood-Nymph? - Eudryas grata Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Eudryas grata Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Hodges #9301 - Eudryas grata Windowsill Moth - Eudryas grata Small Moth with Fluffy 'Arms' - Eudryas grata 5/28/18 - Eudryas grata Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Hodges#9301 - Eudryas grata Pennsylvania Moth - Eudryas grata
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 Agaristinae
Genus Eudryas (Wood Nymphs)
Species grata (Beautiful Wood-Nymph - Hodges#9301)
Hodges Number
9301
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Eudryas grata (Fabricius, 1793)
Bombyx grata Fabricius, 1794
Pyralis cludialis Martyn, 1797
Eudryas assimilis Boisduval, 1874
Phylogenetic sequence # 931966 (1)
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed three species of the genus Eudryas in America north of Mexico.(1)
Size
Wingspan 35-46 mm.
Larva length to 40 mm.
Identification
Adult: larger than Pearly Wood-Nymph (E. unio), and the dark band along outer margin of forewing is smoothly curved on the inside, not scalloped as in E. unio, shown below.

Larva: body has thick orange bands with black spots alternating with several thin black and white bands. Orange face and thoracic shield with black spots and orange fleshy prolegs, each with a single black spot on the basal portion (E.unio is similar but with two offset black spots on the basal portion of each proleg, and a white and black pro-thoracic shield).(2)
Range
Eastern and central North America
Season
Univoltine on Block Island, RI, with a flight from June to August.(3)
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of several shrubs, vines: Ampelopsis, Buttonbush, grape, hops, Virginia Creeper.
Adults do not feed?
Life Cycle
one generation per year in the north; two in the south
See Also
Pearly Wood-Nymph (Eudryas unio) dark band along outer margin of forewing is scalloped on the inside, not smoothly curved.


Pearly Wood-Nymph (Eudryas unio) larvae are similar but with two black spots on each proleg, white and black pro-thoracic shield, and different hostplants.
Eight-spotted Forester (Alypia octomaculata) larvae are similar, but smaller (to 3 cm) and with sparse long setae (hairs).
Print References
Covell, p. 139, plate 27 (4)
Himmelman, plate B-1 (5)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.
nearctica.com - range map, description and photo of pinned adult.
BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.
live adult images plus description, host plants, and dates (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
Works Cited
1.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
2.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.
3.Block Island Moths
4.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
5.Discovering Moths: Nighttime Jewels in Your Own Backyard
John Himmelman. 2002. Down East Books.