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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Tiger and Lichen Moths (Arctiinae) » Lichen Moths (Lithosiini) » Cisthenina » Cisthene » Kentucky Lichen Moth - Hodges#8061 (Cisthene kentuckiensis)

Species Cisthene kentuckiensis - Kentucky Lichen Moth - Hodges#8061

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Kentucky lichen moth - Cisthene kentuckiensis Kentucky lichen moth - Cisthene kentuckiensis Cisthene kentuckiensis (T) - Cisthene kentuckiensis Cisthene kentuckiensis (T) - Cisthene kentuckiensis Orange and black 8mm forewing length - Cisthene kentuckiensis Cisthene kentuckiensis Kentucky Lichen Moth - Cisthene kentuckiensis Cisthene kentuckiensis
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 Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)
Tribe Lithosiini (Lichen Moths)
Subtribe Cisthenina
Genus Cisthene
Species kentuckiensis (Kentucky Lichen Moth - Hodges#8061)
Hodges Number
8061
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Cisthene kentuckiensis (Dyar, 1904)
original combination Illice unifascia var. kentuckiensis Dyar, 1904
* phylogenetic sequence #930178
Size
Wingspan 15-19 mm
Identification
Adult is best identified by the black ground color, dark thoracic disk, and wide orange or yellow basal streak which is well connected to the wide PM band.(1)(2) The basal edge of the PM band is broadly and evenly concave (contrast with One-banded).(1)
Range
New Jersey, Ohio, and Indiana, south to n. Florida and Louisiana, west to rarely e. Oklahoma and n.e. Texas (Covell, 1984; BugGuide, iNaturalist records).
Season
Adults fly July-October.
Food
Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Larvae feed on lichens.
See Also
Thin-banded Lichen Moth (Cisthene tenuifascia) - yellow-orange basal streak is narrow and may or may not merge with PM band; PM band is typically much narrower than Kentucky; ground color typically slate gray, not black.
Uncommon Pictured Lichen Moth has an all orange thorax; distribution mainly in s. Great Plains.
Print References
Covell, C. V. (1984) Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. pp.60, pl.12, f.16(3)
Dyar, H. G. (1904) Descriptions of new forms of the genus Illice Walker. Proc. Ent. Soc. Washington 6 (1): 198
Fothergill, K., M. G. Smart, & P. E. Koenig (2011) Cisthene kentuckiensis (Dyar) Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae) First Record for Missouri. Midsouth Entomologist : 6-8
Sexton, C., and H. McGuinness. 2017. Identification of lichen moths in the genus Cisthene in the central and eastern U.S. South. Lep. News 39(4):309-322.
Internet References
butterfliesandmoths.org
Maryland Moths
Moth Photographers Group - species page
Key to Texas species of Cisthene
Works Cited
1.Identification of Lichen Moths in the Genus Cisthene Walker 1854 (Erebidae: Arctiinae) in the Central and Eastern U.S.
Sexton, C. and H. McGuinness. 2017. Southern Lepidopterists' News 39(4):309-322.
2.A Revision of the Species of Cisthene Known to Occur North of the Mexican Border (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae: Lithosiinae)
Carroll B. Knowlton. 1967. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 93(1): 41-100.
3.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
Contributed by Cotinis on 26 February, 2005 - 6:58am
Additional contributions by Robin McLeod, Chuck Sexton, Randy Hardy
Last updated 25 December, 2020 - 9:25am

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