Species Phalaenostola larentioides - Black-banded Owlet - Hodges#8364

8364

Phalaenostola larentioides Grote, 1873

Phalaenostola citima Grote, 1873(a)

* phylogenetic sequence #930514

Four Phalaenostola species are found in America north of Mexico.(1)

wingspan 17-24 mm

Adult: forewing medium to dark gray with two broad blackish bands crossing wing; antemedial (AM), postmedial (PM), and subterminal (ST) lines black, wavy, and spaced approximately the same distance apart [Edit: am guessing this refers to the distance near the inner margin - Steve Nanz]; hindwing color and pattern similar to forewing

some specimens are considerably paler than usual and more eaily confused with P. eumelusalis - see "See Also" section below

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specimen identified by DNA analysis (BOLD) from Mark Dreiling

New Brunswick to Florida, west to Texas and Ontario

adults fly from May to September

larvae feed on clover, grass, and dead leaves

pale adults may be confused with P. eumelusalis but in that species, the distance between the AM and PM line is at least 2x greater than the distance between the PM and ST line (whereas in P. larentioides, these distances are approximately equal) [Edit: am guessing this refers to the distance near the inner margin - Steve Nanz]; also, the PM and ST lines in eumelusalis tend to be more sharply toothed, whereas in larentioides, those lines are more smoothly wavy. Compare images of both species at CBIF.

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P. eumelusalis

Moth Photographers Group

BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - map and photos of pinned adults.

lepbarcoding.org - collection map and photos of pinned adults.

pinned adult image (CBIF)

full text original description - read original description on books.google.com. under Phalaenostola citima

adult images and larval food (Larry Line, Maryland)

US distribution (Dalton State College, Georgia)

distribution in Canada list of provinces (U. of Alberta, using CBIF data)