Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Harrisina americana - Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Hodges#4624

Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Harrisina americana - male Grapeleaf skeletonizer? - Harrisina americana Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Harrisina americana Grapeleaf skeletonizer - Harrisina americana Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Harrisina americana Unknown Bug - Harrisina americana Grapeleaf skeletonizer - Harrisina americana Harrisina americana
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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 Harrisina
Species americana (Grapeleaf Skeletonizer - Hodges#4624)
Hodges Number
4624
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Harrisina americana (Guérin)
Orig. Comb: Aglaope americana Guérin, 1829
Phylogenetic sequence # 139875
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
e US, Ont. - Map (MPG)
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
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.
Other black and orange-winged moths from other families, such as Arctiidae: Lycomorpha pholus; Virginia Ctenucha (Ctenucha virginica);
Print References
Covell p. 413, plate 57 (1)
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, pl. 21, fig. 12; p. 162. (2)
Internet References
Featured Creatures - F.W. Mead and S.E. Webb, 2001
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
2.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
3.North American Moth Photographers Group
4.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems