Numbers
2 species in North America [
cinerea, sayi] listed at
nearctica.comSize
adult body length 14-25 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing brownish-gray with indistinct longitudinal streaking; black line (broken in middle) runs from near base almost to outer margin; small white spots present at both ends and middle of this line; a shorter black line closer to costa in distal half of wing has white spot at anterior end; slender whitish or pale gray patch at base of wing next to thorax; black line on side of head runs through eye; antennae thick, about two-thirds as long as forewing; legs with conspicuous short spines
Larva case: usually made of narrow strips of plant materials glued together longitudinally, usually in rings or a spiral
Range
P. cinerea: all of Canada and northern United States - Alaska to Newfoundland, south to Connecticut, across the Great Lake states, through Nebraska and Colorado to California
P. sayi: south-central Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan) and northern United States east of the Rockies; absent from the west coast and southern tier of states
(see complete list of states and provinces in NatureServe Explorer link in Internet References below)
genus also represented by several species in Eurasia
Habitat
larvae live in ponds and marshes; adults found on nearby vegetation and are attracted to light
Remarks
page creation based on identification of
this image by Thomas Ames Jr.
Internet References
live adult image of
P. cinerea plus adult size and info on larvae (Kansas State U.)
distribution list of states and provinces of occurrence for both North American species (NatureServe Explorer)
live adult image of a European species P. grandis (Universite de Bretagne-Sud, France)
live adult image of a European species P. striata (tiscali.co.uk, United Kingdom)
Contributed by
Robin McLeod on 23 July, 2006 - 8:12pm
Last updated 23 July, 2006 - 9:33pm
