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Species Chytolita morbidalis - Morbid Owlet - Hodges#8355

Chytolita sp - Chytolita morbidalis Chytolita - Chytolita morbidalis Lep 08 - Chytolita morbidalis Morbid Owlet - Chytolita morbidalis Angle moth - Chytolita morbidalis Chytolita morbidalis - female dazzling moth - Chytolita morbidalis - male moth - Chytolita morbidalis
Show images of: caterpillars · adults · both
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 Herminiinae (Litter Moths)
Genus Chytolita
Species morbidalis (Morbid Owlet - Hodges#8355)
Hodges Number
8355
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Chytolita petrealis (Guenée, 1854)(1)
Herminea morbidalis Guenée 1854
Chytolita petrealis Grote 1880
Chytolita fulicalis Smith 1907
Zanclognatha punctiformis Smith 1895
Phylogenetic sequence #930502

*2013 revision placed Chytolita petrealis Grote 1880 [8356] as a synonyms of Chytolita morbidalis (1)
Explanation of Names
MORBIDALIS: from the Latin "morbidus" (sickly, diseased), from "morbus" (disease); probably refers to the moth's "sickly" pale color
Numbers
There is one named species of Chytolita in America north of Mexico.(1)
Size
wingspan 29-35 mm
Identification
forewing pale grayish-white; lines diffuse, brownish or orangish; AM line slightly jagged or irregular; PM line sinuate with small scallops; ST line straight, composed of several dark spots or wedges
hindwing even paler with faint grayish veins
Habitat
deciduous woods and edges; generally drier or less boggy habitat than Chytolita petrealis
Season
Univoltine on Block Island, RI, with adult records from early June to early August.(2)
Food
larvae feed on dead leaves of deciduous trees, and have been reared on dandelion, grass, hazel, lettuce
Print References
Crabo, Lars G., et. al. 2013. Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from Northwestern North America, with notes on Chytolita Grote (Erebidae) and Hydraecia Guenée (Noctuidae).(1)
Internet References
Images and Info at Barcoding Life
presence in South Carolina; county map (John Snyder, Furman U., South Carolina)
Works Cited
1.Five new species and three new subspecies of Erebidae and Noctuidae (Insecta, Lepidoptera) from .....
Lars G. Crabo, Melanie Davis, Paul Hammond, Tomas Mustelin, Jon Shepard. 2013. ZooKeys 264: 85–123.
2.Block Island Moths