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Species Amphipyra pyramidoides - Copper Underwing - Hodges#9638

Copper Underwing - Hodges#9638 - Amphipyra pyramidoides Noctuidae: Amphipyra pyramidoides - Amphipyra pyramidoides moth on back porch - Amphipyra pyramidoides Moth G - Amphipyra pyramidoides Copper Underwing - Hodges#9638 - Dorsal (with Flash) - Amphipyra pyramidoides Moth - Amphipyra pyramidoides Moth 11 - Amphipyra pyramidoides Owlet Moth - Copper Underwing - Amphipyra pyramidoides
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 Amphipyrinae
Tribe Amphipyrini
Genus Amphipyra
Species pyramidoides (Copper Underwing - Hodges#9638)
Hodges Number
9638
Other Common Names
Humped Green Fruitworm (larva)
Pyramidal Green Fruitworm (larva)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Amphipyra pyramidoides Guenée, 1852
Explanation of Names
PYRAMIDOIDES: probably a reference to the pyramid-shaped hump on the larva
Size
wingspan 38-52 mm (1)
Identification
Adult: forewing glossy brown with prominent pale orbicular spot, jagged black antemedial (AM) and subterminal (ST) lines, and streaked subterminal area that is paler than remainder of wing (see Lynn Scott's page for detailed description)
hindwing coppery orange with no postmedial (PM) line or black margin:
   

Larva: body light green with sparse white spots; spiracles black; spiracular line white with shades of yellow; eighth abdominal segment with large dorsal hump:
   
Range
US and southern Canada
Season
adults fly from July through October
larvae present in May and June
Food
Larvae are general feeders on leaves of many broadleaf trees and shrubs, including apple, basswood, hawthorn, maple, oak, walnut, raspberry, viburnum, grape, greenbrier (Smilax)
Life Cycle
One generation per year; larvae active in spring; when ready to pupate they build a shelter by rolling a leaf. Aggregations of newly eclosed adults found under bark, etc. in mid-summer (2). Overwinter as eggs
1: caterpillar. 2: caterpillar, later instar. 3: rolled leaf shelter. 4: pupa. 5 and 6: adults
Remarks
Not one of the "true" Underwings (Catocala spp.) which have either all-black or banded hindwings.

The coppery-orange hindwing of A. pyramidoides is diagnostic but rarely visible in live moths, as they tend to keep their forewings together, covering the hindwings.
See Also
Mouse Moth (Amphipyra tragopoginis) is smaller with uniformly-colored and darker brown wings (compare images of both species at CBIF)
on the US west coast, larvae of Feralia februalis are very similar but have tan spiracles (not black) and the spiracular line has a red dorsal edge (not yellow)
Print References
Covell, p. 132, plate 26#17 (1)
Wagner, p. 391 (3)
Wagner et al., p. 326 (2)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - photos of living and pinned adults.
live adult image plus description, host plants, and season (Lynn Scott, Ontario)
adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
pinned adult image (Insects of Quebec)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
live larva image plus description and other info (Jeffrey Miller, US Geological Survey)
images and biology (U. of Vermont)
live larva image by Lance Risley, William Paterson U., New Jersey (insectimages.org)
common name reference [Humped Green Fruitworm; larva] (insectimages.org)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
2.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
3.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.