Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Phragmatobia assimilans Walker, 1855
Phylogenetic sequence # 930334
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) included three species of the genus
Phragmatobia in America north of Mexico.
(1)Identification
Adult: forewing opaque dark reddish-brown with dark speckling and faint black AM, PM, and ST lines; female larger and darker with more prominent forewing pattern; hindwing reddish or pinkish with broad black terminal band but no black shading along costa.
[adapted from description by Charles Covell]
Range
Coast to coast in northern United States and southern Canada
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Habitat
Moist open habitats in deciduous and mixed forest.
Season
Adults fly from late April to August.
(2)Food
Larvae feed on leaves of Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamifera), raspberry, White Birch (Betula papyrifera) - and have been reared on dandelion and plantain. Also Apocynaceae (HOSTS).
See Also
Ruby Tiger Moth (
P. fuliginosa) has no lines on forewings
Lined Ruby Tiger Moth (
P. lineata) has translucent forewings with less speckling
(
compare images of all three species)
Print References
Newman, J.H. & J.P. Donahue 1966. The genus
Phragmatobia in North America, with a description of a new species (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae).
The Michigan Entomologist, 1(2).
(3)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009.
Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, pl. 47, fig. 10; p. 269.
(4)Internet References
pinned adult image plus habitat, flight season, description, food plants, distribution (Strickland Entomological Museum, U. of Alberta)