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Species Cerma cora - Owl-eyed Bird Dropping Moth - Hodges#9061

Owl-eyed Bird Dropping Moth - Cerma cora Noctuidae: Cerma cora - Cerma cora Cerma cora Cerma cora Cerma cora Cerma cora Cerma cora  - Cerma cora Cerma cora
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 Acronictinae
Genus Cerma
Species cora (Owl-eyed Bird Dropping Moth - Hodges#9061)
Hodges Number
9061
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cerma cora Hübner, 1818
synonym Chariptera festa Guenée, 1852
Phylogenetic sequence # 931500
Numbers
one of three Cerma species in America north of Mexico.(1)
Size
wingspan 27-30 mm (2)
Identification
forewing basal and subterminal areas olive green with wavy black lines; median area white with wavy/jagged black lines and prominent white orbicular spot (in moths at rest, the two orbicular spots and jagged lines between them give the appearance of an owl's face); terminal line a series of white triangular or oval spots with black centers
hindwing white basally, grayish distally, with black-and-white checkered fringe
Range
Nova Scotia to Florida, west to Texas, north to Wisconsin and Ontario (3)
Habitat
described as "sandplain pitch pine - scrub oak barrens" in New England
described as "levee forests with hawthorn" in North Carolina
Season
adults fly from February to April in the south; May to July in the north(4)
Food
larvae feed on Pin Cherry (Prunus pensylvanica) and possibly hawthorn
Life Cycle
one generation per year; overwinters as a pupa in dead wood
Remarks
Global Status: G3 (vulnerable); "Considered rare in most of range and often associated with unusual and/or pristine habitats. Few documented occurrences, none in many states within its range, and single Ohio collection was before 1900. Other than Wisconsin, probably no state has more than five recently verified occurrences. Still, with records in the 1980s and since then scattered widely from New Hampshire and New York to Wisconsin to Florida and Louisiana, this species does not appear to be currently imperiled." [NatureServe Explorer]
Internet References
live adult images and late-May date (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
comprehensive species account (NatureServe Explorer)
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.Rare, Declining, and Poorly Known Butterflies and Moths of Forests and Woodlands in the Eastern United States
Dale F. Schweitzer, Marc C. Minno, David L. Wagner. 2011. U.S. Forest Service, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team, FHTET-2011-01. .
3.Moths of Dallas County, Texas
4.North American Moth Photographers Group