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Species Macronoctua onusta - Iris Borer - Hodges#9452

Iris Borer - Macronoctua onusta Macronoctua onusta Iris Borer - Macronoctua onusta unknown moth - Macronoctua onusta Iris Borer Moth? - Macronoctua onusta Iris Borer - Macronoctua onusta Macronoctua onusta - Iris Borer - Hodges#9452 - Macronoctua onusta Macronoctua onusta
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 Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Apameini
Genus Macronoctua
Species onusta (Iris Borer - Hodges#9452)
Hodges Number
9452
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Macronoctua onusta Grote, 1874
Phylogenetic Sequence # 932442
Numbers
the only species in this genus in North America (1)(2)(3)(4)
Identification
forewing brown with darker brown or gray margins; AM and PM lines thin, black, and zigzagged; wingtips with several concave scallops; hindwing uniformly pale brown (1)(2)(3)(4)
Genitalia:
Range
eastern US and southeastern Canada, plus British Columbia (1)(2)(3)(4)
Season
adults fly in September and October (1)(2)
Food
larvae bore into iris plants and feed on the rhizomes (1)(2)
Life Cycle
see Internet Reference links below
Larva; Pupa; Adult:
Remarks
much information on caterpillar damage and control on the web; see Internet Reference links below
Internet References
biology and control (U. of Florida)

Old Links: (not working anymore) updated 17 Jan 2024
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
pinned adult image and semiochemicals (pherobase.com)
biology and biocontrol (U. of Wisconsin)
biology and control (Virginia State U.)
biological control using nematodes (Canadian Iris Society)
color drawing of larva (American Iris Society)