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Species Pyromorpha dimidiata - Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Hodges#4639

Pyromorpha dimidiata (Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Hodges#4639) ? - Pyromorpha dimidiata Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Pyromorpha dimidiata moth - Pyromorpha dimidiata Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Hodges#4639 - Pyromorpha dimidiata Pyromorpha dimidiata Pyromorpha dimidiata from Connecticut - Pyromorpha dimidiata Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Hodges#4639 - Pyromorpha dimidiata - male - female Insect to porch light  - Pyromorpha dimidiata
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Zygaenoidea (Flannel, Slug Caterpillar, Leaf Skeletonizer Moths and kin)
Family Zygaenidae (Leaf Skeletonizer Moths)
Subfamily Procridinae
Genus Pyromorpha
Species dimidiata (Orange-patched Smoky Moth - Hodges#4639)
Hodges Number
4639
Size
Wingspan 18-28 mm
Identification
Day-flying. Wings black, translucent, basal half of forewing orange. Note that inner margin of forewing is black, orange in rather similar Lycomorpha. Also note phenology: Pyromorpha flies in early summer, Lycomorpha in late summer, fall.
Range
Eastern and central North America
Habitat
Deciduous forests and nearby fields, presumably
Season
May-July
Food
The solitary larva "lives beneath the fallen leaves in oak woods, feeding on the dead and decaying leaves." (Dyar, 1897)
Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Adults likely mimics of Lycid beetles, but also reported to have chemical defenses of their own.
See Also
Black-and-yellow Lichen Moth--Lycomorpha pholus

See also the presumed model of the mimicry, the Lycid beetles of genus Calopteron.
Print References
Covell, p. 414, plate 57 #4 (1)
Dyar, H.G., 1897. Life History of Pyromorpha dimidiata H. S. Psyche 8: 128–129.
Internet References
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.