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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Moths » Zygaenoidea » Leaf Skeletonizer Moths (Zygaenidae) » Harrisina » Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Hodges#4624 (Harrisina americana)

Species Harrisina americana - Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Hodges#4624

Classification · Hodges Number · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Harrisina americana

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer Moth - Harrisina americana

Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)

No Taxon (Moths)

Superfamily Zygaenoidea

Family Zygaenidae (Leaf Skeletonizer Moths)

Genus Harrisina

Species americana (Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Hodges#4624)

Hodges Number

4624

Size

Winspan 18-28 mm, length 8-12 mm.

Identification

Adult: wings narrow, completely black, held spread out and away from body at rest; collar orange/red, complete (not broken, as in Clemen's False Skeletonizer); tip of abdomen has prominent tufts of scales; antennae pectinate in both sexes, and plumose in male

Larva: head dark; body yellow with complete black band across each abdominal segment

Range

Eastern and central North America

Habitat

Found on flowers in fields, etc. Adults are diurnal and nocturnal, and come to light.

Season

adults fly April-October in much of range; March-October in Florida

larvae present from April/May to November in Florida

Food

Larvae feed on grape foliage, and can be pests; may also feed on Redbud, Virginia Creeper.

Adults take nectar.

Life Cycle

two or possibly three generations per year in Florida

See Also

Genus Pyromorpha (in same family) has yellow or orange in wings, lacking in Harrisina

Other black and orange-winged moths from other families, such as Arctiidae: Lycomorpha pholus; Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica); Yellow-collared Scape Moth (Cisseps fulvicollis) have more triangular-shaped wings, and lack scale tufts on the abdomen.

Clemens' False Skeletonizer (Acoloithus falsarius) is much smaller, has incomplete orange/red collar, and lacks abdominal scale tufts.

Western Grapeleaf Skeletonizer (Harrisina brillians) is very similar but ranges from California to Texas, south to Mexico.

Print References

Covell p. 413, plate 57 (1)

Internet References

Univ. Florida--fact sheet, including common name reference and live images of all life stages (F.W. Mead, Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and Susan Webb, U. of Florida)

North Carolina State Entomology lists just H. americana (nominate and texana subspecies) for that state.

Works Cited

1.	Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths By Charles V. Covell

Contributed by Cotinis on 10 August, 2004 - 7:31pm
Additional contributions by Hannah Nendick-Mason, Robin McLeod
Last updated 16 June, 2008 - 10:37am

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