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Species Papaipema rigida - Rigid Sunflower Borer - Hodges#9503

Noctuidae: Papaipema rigida? - Papaipema rigida Noctuidae: Papaipema rigida? - Papaipema rigida Noctuidae: Papaipema rigida - Papaipema rigida Papaipema, spent pupa - Papaipema rigida Rigid Sunflower Borer - Papaipema rigida Rigid Sunflower Borer on False Sunflower - Papaipema rigida Papaipema cataphracta  - Papaipema rigida Papaipema rigida
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 Papaipema (Borer Moths)
Species rigida (Rigid Sunflower Borer - Hodges#9503)
Hodges Number
9503
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
described in 1877 by Grote, who originally placed it in genus Gortyna
Size
wingspan about 28-29 mm, based on two Internet photos
Identification
Adult: forewing light yellow with almost straight PM line and purplish-brown shading beyond it except for pale apical patch; reniform, orbicular, and claviform spots all filled with ground color, not white; AM line W-shaped, with darker shading in basal area; fringe dark; hindwing off-white to pale yellowish with dark discal spot, veins, and terminal line
Range
New Brunswick to Pennsylvania, west to Iowa and Manitoba; type specimens collected in Pennsylvania and Illinois
Habitat
meadows where foodplant grows; adults are nocturnal and come to light
Season
adults fly from June to October
Food
larvae feed on Stiff Sunflower (Helianthus pauciflorus [=rigidus]), Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides), and Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)
Life Cycle
Larva in root; larva; pupa; adult
See Also
Burdock Borer (Papaipema cataphracta) has a darker forewing whose spots are paler than the ground color.
Internet References
live and pinned adult images by various photographers (Moth Photographers Group)
type specimen localities (Markku Savela, FUNET)