Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Anagoga occiduaria
placed in genus
Plagodis by Parsons, Scoble,
et al in the 1999 Catalogue
Geometrid Moths of the World; this is the reference followed at All-Leps and BugGuide
Plagodis pulveraria occiduaria is the North American subspecies, and is called the American Barred Umber; the Eurasian subspecies is P. pulveraria pulveraria and is known as the Barred Umber
Explanation of Names
pulveraria is Latin for "of or belonging to dust or sand": Linnaeus described the wings as "testaceo-pulverulentis", with testaceo- referring to a light earth-color, perhaps best translated as "sandy" or "tawny", and pulverulentis meaning "dusty"
subspecies P. pulveraria occiduaria was described in 1861 by Walker, who originally placed it in genus Numeria
subspecies
P. pulveraria pulveraria was described in 1758 by
Linnaeus, who originally placed it in genus
PhalaenaNumbers
one of 6 species in this genus in North America listed at
All-LepsIdentification
Adult: forewing light brown with extensive black speckling and large irregular-shaped dark brown patch in median area; hindwing slightly paler and lacking patch, although speckling is denser in area of anal angle
Range
The subspecies P. pulveraria occiduaria occurs in North America from Newfoundland to Northwest Territories and British Columbia, south in the west to California, south in the east to Georgia (absent from Texas and the southern great plains).
The nominate subspecies (P. pulveraria pulveraria) occurs in Eurasia.
Season
adults fly from May to August
Food
larvae feed on leaves of birch, hazelnut, hawthorn, willow
See Also
other species of
Plagodis have a different forewing pattern (
compare images of all 6 species in North America at CBIF)
Print References
Scoble, Malcolm. (ed.) 1999.
Geometrid Moths of the World; a Catalogue. CSIRO Publishing. 1,312 pp.
Internet References
23 pinned adult images plus collection site map (All-Leps)
live adult image of Eurasian subspecies
P. pulveraria pulveraria by Philippe Mothiron, France (Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North Africa)
synonyms and references (Brian Pitkin, Butterflies and Moths of the World)
distribution in Canada list of provinces and territories (CBIF)
presence in California; list of 4 specimen records with date and location (U. of California at Berkeley)
