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Species Bertholdia trigona - Grote's Bertholdia - Hodges#8258

Grote's Bertholdia - Bertholdia trigona Lepidoptera, a gray and red moth - Bertholdia trigona Lepidoptera, a gray and red moth - Bertholdia trigona Grote's Bertholdia - Bertholdia trigona Bertholdia trigona? - Bertholdia trigona Arizona Moth - Bertholdia trigona Bertholdia trigona? - Bertholdia trigona Bertholdia trigona  - Bertholdia trigona
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 Arctiini (Tiger Moths)
Subtribe Phaegopterina
Genus Bertholdia
Species trigona (Grote's Bertholdia - Hodges#8258)
Hodges Number
8258
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Bertholdia trigona (Grote, 1879)
Halysidota trigona Grote, 1879
* phylogentic sequence #930390
Explanation of Names
Trigona derives from Latin meaning "triangle".
Size
Forewing length 16-18 mm. (1)
Identification
Adult: forewing long, pointed, brown with large pale yellow translucent patch along costa near apex, and 2-3 yellowish spots along inner margin near base; several black dots within translucent patch; shape of patch is approximately rectangular, and its margins are fairly straight; terminal line checkered pale and dark; hindwing short, white, diffused with pink along inner margin and at base; abdomen red; thorax brown with red accents.
Range
Southwestern United States from Arizona to Texas, north in the mountains to Wyoming and South Dakota.
Season
Adults fly mid-July and August. (1)
Food
First through third instar larvae feed on algae, moss, and other small epiphytes growing on citrus trees. Fourth instar larvae switch to herbaceous plants (2). McFarland had young larvae feed on lichens from the stems of mountain mahogany (Cerocarpus). (1)
Life Cycle
Females lay single layers of green eggs. (1)
Remarks
These moths emit ultrasonic clicks that appear to jam the echolocation system of bats that might prey on them (ScienceNOW).
See Also
Bertholdia specularis forwing patch is irregular-shaped (not rectangular), and its distal margin is scalloped (not straight) - see pinned photo by Matthew Barnes, and live photo by Mark Gurney
Print References
Grote, A.R. 1879. A new Halsidota collected by Professor Snow. The North American Entomologist 1(6): 46
Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.49.1f, p.273 (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - species page
pinned adult images (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)
pinned adult image by Paul Opler, plus US distribution map (butterfliesandmoths.org)
pinned adult image (New Mexico State U.)
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: behavior, ecology, and evolution of the Arctiidae.
William E. Conner (ed.). 2009. Oxford University Press.