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Species Papaipema nelita - Coneflower Borer - Hodges#9502

Coneflower Borer - Papaipema nelita Dark Moth - Papaipema nelita Noctuidae: Papaipema nelita? - Papaipema nelita Iowa nelita - Papaipema nelita Noctuidae: Papaipema nelita - Papaipema nelita Papaipema nelita (Coneflower Borer) - Papaipema nelita Nephelodes minians ? - Papaipema nelita Papaipema nelita  - Papaipema nelita
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 nelita (Coneflower Borer - Hodges#9502)
Hodges Number
9502
Explanation of Names
Strecker, 1898
Size
length is 20 mm, wingspan is 30-35 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing orangish-brown to grayish-brown with reniform, orbicular, and claviform spots either white and conspicuous or dark brown and showing little contrast against ground color; subterminal area grayer than rest of wing; PM line almost straight but appears to be toothed due to dark wing veins projecting into subterminal area; ST line irregular/jagged; a dark brown or blackish medial line runs from reniform spot to inner margin; 4 or 5 tiny pale dots along costa near apex

Genitalia:
Range
Nova Scotia to North Carolina, west to Illinois, north to Manitoba; also recorded in Arizona
Habitat
damp meadows and grasslands where foodplants grow
Season
adults fly from August to October
Food
larvae bore into stems and roots of Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), called Green-headed Coneflower in Peterson's Guide to Eastern Wildflowers
also reported on burdock (Ohio State U.)
See Also
may be mistaken for P. eupatorii, whose PM line lacks "teeth" and shows sharp contrast between dark medial area and paler subterminal area (compare images of both species)
Internet References
pinned adult image of all-dark form from eastern United States [at Smithsonian Institute] (presented by Bruce Walsh, Arizona)
pinned adult image of all-dark form from Arizona (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)
pinned adult image of all-dark form by Jim Wiker, Illinois (Moth Photographers Group)
foodplant and synonyms (Markku Savela, FUNET)
foodplants and flight season (Ohio State U.)
presence in North Carolina; list (Great Smoky Mountain National Park "Bioblitz"; USGS)
distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)