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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Phyprosopus callitrichoides - Curve-lined Owlet - Hodges#8525

Curve-lined Owlet Caterpillar - Phyprosopus callitrichoides Phyprosopus callitrichoides Hodges #8525 - Curve-lined Owlet - Phyprosopus callitrichoides Could you kindly identify this moth? - Phyprosopus callitrichoides Phyprosopus callitrichoides Inch Worm? - Phyprosopus callitrichoides Pennsylvania Moth - Phyprosopus callitrichoides Moth to porch light  - Phyprosopus callitrichoides
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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 Eulepidotinae
Genus Phyprosopus
Species callitrichoides (Curve-lined Owlet - Hodges#8525)
Hodges Number
8525
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Phyprosopus callitrichoides Grote, 1872
Sudariophora nasutaria Zeller, 1872
Phylogenetic Sequence # 931101
Explanation of Names
CALLITRICHOIDES - from calli, which is Greek for 'beautiful' (1) + trichoides (hairs? or tentacles)
Numbers
There are two named species of Phyprosopus in America north of Mexico.(2),(3)
There is now only one species in the genus. (4)(5) (Updated 2021)
Size
Wingspan 28-35 mm. (6)
Larva less than 35 mm. (7)
Identification
Adult background color is variable.
Specimen identified By DNA analysis:


Larva:
Range
TX-FL-NY-NE / Ont. - Map - MPG
Syntypes: New York; Texas.
Habitat
Woodlands and forest edges. (7)
Season
Adults fly year round in the South and March through September in northern areas.
Food
greenbriers - Smilax spp. (Smilacaceae) (6)
Life Cycle
Overwinters as pupa. (7)
Remarks
Larva described as "fantastically bizarre". (7)
See Also
Psammathodoxa cochlidioides (formerly Phyprosopus calligrapha)


Larval stage is very similar to that of Nematocampa resistaria - Horned Spanworm Moth / Filament Bearer (Geometridae).
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)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - map, photos of larvae, living and pinned adults.
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.
Georgia Lepidoptera - larva and pinned adult.
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
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.Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico.
Hodges, et al. (editors). 1983. E. W. Classey, London. 284 pp.
4.North American Moth Photographers Group
5.Wikipedia
6.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
7.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.