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Species Apamea sordens - Rustic Shoulder-knot - Hodges#9364

Rustic-shoulder Knot Moth - Apamea sordens Rustic Shoulder-knot - Apamea sordens Moth - Apamea sordens Noctuidae: Apamea sordens - Apamea sordens Noctuid - Apamea sordens Apamea sordens  - Apamea sordens Apamea sordens? - Apamea sordens Noctuidae - Apamea sordens
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 Apamea
Species sordens (Rustic Shoulder-knot - Hodges#9364)
Hodges Number
9364
Other Common Names
Bordered Apamea
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
formerly Apamea finitima
Explanation of Names
RUSTIC SHOULDER-KNOT: "shoulder-knot" refers to the black dash at the base of the forewing; "rustic" comes from the Latin "rus" (country) - perhaps a reference to the open grassland habitat of this species, although the term "rustic moth" also refers to any noctuid moth, according to Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
Size
wingspan 30-42 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing grayish to brownish with slightly darker reddish-brownish median area; prominent black basal dash; claviform spot a black loop extending outward from AM line; orbicular and reniform spots large, pale, black-rimmed; reniform spot with blackish area at lower end; diffuse reddish medial line sometimes visible
hindwing pale basally, shading to grayish-brown distally

*Apamea sordens and A. digitula can only be separated by DNA. (California and Oregon)(1)

Larva: pale yellowish-brown with cream-colored dorsal stripe and broken blackish lateral line; head dark reddish-brown on the sides, and yellowish-brown on top, with 2 black dorsolateral lines
Range
coast to coast in southern Canada and northern United States, south in the east to Virginia, south in the west to Utah and California
also occurs throughout Eurasia
Habitat
fields, grasslands
Season
adults fly from May to July/August
Food
larvae feed on leaves of grains (barley, corn, oats, rye, wheat, wild rice) and various grasses and sedges
Life Cycle
overwinters as a larva; one generation per year
Remarks
This species was listed as Apamea finitima and called Bordered Apamea in the 1984 edition of Charles Covell's Guide to Moths. The North American moth has since been shown to be the same species as the Eurasian Apamea sordens, widely known in Europe as Rustic Shoulder-knot.
See Also
*Apamea sordens and A. digitula can only be separated by DNA. (California and Oregon)(1)
Print References
Lafontaine J. D., and B. C. Schmidt 2010. Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America North of Mexico. (2)
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
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 .