Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Grammia arge (Drury, 1773)
Phalaena arge Drury, 1773
Phylogenetic sequence #930240
Numbers
Thirty-eight species in the genus for America north of Mexico.
(1)Identification
Adult: abdomen light pink or white with dorsal row of black spots; thorax white with three black stripes [one dorsal and two dorsolateral]; forewing mostly white with small black wedges representing lines; fringe white
hindwing white, or pale pink, or with pale pink highlights; several irregular black spots on disc and subterminal area [spots smaller and fewer in male]; terminal line yellowish or pinkish; fringe white.
Larva: body black with three whitish dorsal stripes, tinted with orangish or pink at each abdominal joint; dorsolateral tuft of multi-length black hairs on each segment
Range
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of corn, dock, lambs-quarters or goosefoot (Chenopodium spp.), grape, plantain, prickly-pear cactus (Opuntia spp.), smartweed, sunflower.
Life Cycle
Two generations per year in the south; one or two in the north.
See Also
Doris Tiger Moth (
Grammia doris) is the most similar but usually has a dark pink abdomen, light pink hindwings, and creamy off-white forewings; also has a rounded black blotch at top of median area near costa of forewing [in
G. arge, that blotch is thinner and more oblique] (
compare images of both species)
See other images of
G. doris here and
here.
Internet References
pinned adult images of male and female, plus live larva image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)