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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Omopterini » Zale » Brown-spotted Zale - Hodges#8704 (Zale helata)

Species Zale helata - Brown-spotted Zale - Hodges#8704

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Remarks · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Washed-out Zale? - Zale helata brown-spotted zale - Zale helata Brown-spotted Zale - Zale helata Brown-spotted Zale - Zale helata Zale helata? - Zale helata Moth - Zale helata Moth to porch light - Zale helata Zale phaeocapna - Zale helata
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 Erebidae
Subfamily Erebinae
Tribe Omopterini
Genus Zale
Species helata (Brown-spotted Zale - Hodges#8704)
Hodges Number
8704
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Zale helata (Smith, 1908)
Phaeocyma helata Smith, 1908 (1)
Phylogenetic sequence # 931039
Numbers
Lafontaine & Schmidt (2010) listed 39 species of the genus Zale species in America north of Mexico. (2)
Size
Wingspan 35-41 mm. (3)
Identification
Warm brown coloration, zig-zag lines.
Range
Manitoba to Maine, southe to northern Alabama and reportedly to Texas(4)
Habitat
Zale helata occurs in barens and pine woodlands. (4)
Season
The adults appear to be most common from May to July.(5)
Food
The larvae feed on both hard and soft pines, rarely larch. (4)
Life Cycle
Larva; adult
Remarks
This "species" listed in Covell (6) apparently represents a complex of pine-feeding Zales that can only be identified based on genitalia. (See notes under photograph.) Since that sort of detail is a little beyond the scope of BugGuide, I am listing this group under Z. helata.
See Also
Similar to Zale squamularis but without the pale grey gray basal area. (3)

Zale curema
Print References
Covell Jr., C.V. 1984. Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Virginia Museum of Natural History. p. 167; plate 38, fig. 15. (6)
Smith, J.B. 1908. A revision of some species of Noctuidae heretofore referred to the genus Homoptera (Boisduval). Proceedings of the United States National Museum 35. p. 248. (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (5)
Forestry Images--larva
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (7)
Moths of North Carolina
Works Cited
1.A revision of some species of Noctuidae heretofore referred to the genus Homoptera (Boisduval)
John B. Smith. 1908. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 35: 209-275.
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 .
3.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
4.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
5.North American Moth Photographers Group
6.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
7.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Cotinis on 14 June, 2004 - 5:31pm
Additional contributions by Maury Heiman, JohnMaxwell22, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Steve Morris
Last updated 10 June, 2023 - 3:07pm

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