Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Polia

6027662 - Polia Greyish Moth - Polia Purple Arches - Hodges#10280 - Polia purpurissata Brocade? - Polia imbrifera Possible family Noctuidae moth - Polia ID Request -- Polia nimbosa or imbrifera? - Polia imbrifera Polia discalis Polia nimbosa? - Polia
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 Hadenini
Genus Polia
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Polia Ochsenheimer, 1816
Chera Hübner, [1821]
Polia Boisduval, 1828
Aplecta Guenée, 1838
Anartodes Culot, 1915
Bompolia Beck, 1996
RipoliaBeck, 1996
Antipolia Beck, 1996
Explanation of Names
Generic epithet Polia is Greek meaning "grey." (1)
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed nine species of the genus Polia in America north of Mexico. (2)
Polia discalis (Grote, 1877)
Polia piniae Buckett & Bauer, 1967
Polia nimbosa (Guenee, 1852)
Polia imbrifera (Guenee, 1852)
Polia rogenhoferi (Moschler, 1870)
Polia propodea McCabe, 1980
Polia richardsoni (Curtis, 1834)
-ssp. P. r. richardsoni (Curtis, 1834)
-ssp. P. r. magna Barnes & Benjamin, 1924
Polia purpurissata (Grote, 1864)
Polia nugatis (Smith, 1898)
Identification
Adult - forewing color varies among species from pale grayish to almost blackish; reniform spot usually large and distinct; subterminal line usually a prominent feature and with distinctive markings in some species [see image links in Internet References section below].
imbriferanimbosapurpurissata
Range
Most of North America, including the arctic; less numerous southward, and uncommon or missing from southeastern states.
Print References
McCabe, T.L. 1980. A reclassification of the Polia complex for North America (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). New York States Museum, 432: 1-141 (3)
Ochsenheimer, F. 1816. Die schmetterlinge von Europa 4: 73
Internet References
pinned adult images of 7 species in eastern Canada (CBIF)
pinned adult images of 4 additional species in western Canada (CBIF)
Works Cited
1.An accentuated list of the British Lepidoptera, with hints on the derivation of the names.
Anonymous. 1858. The Entomological Societies of Oxford and Cambridge.
2.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 .
3.A reclassification of the Polia complex for North America (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).
Timothy L. McCabe. 1980. New York States Museum, 432: 1-141.