Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Nudorthodes texana (Smith, 1900)
(1)
Protorthodes texana (Smith, 1900)
Perigea texana Smith, 1900
(2)
Perigea consors Smith, 1900
(2)
Phylogenetic Sequence # 933116
Identification
Comes in tan-brown and gray color forms. AM and PM lines are single, narrow, black; AM jagged, PM sinuous with a sharp basal turn close to the costa. Basal area is uniformly tan-brown or gray. Pale orbicular and reniform spots are mostly outlined in black; reniform spot has some dusky shading in dorsal (inner) half; small black-outlined claviform spot is present. Median area may be slightly darker than basal and subterminal areas, and the orbicular and reniform spots may be connected by a black line. Black PM line is broadly shaded with pale ground color distally and there are usually a dusky subterminal line bordering the pale area distally, thickest beyond the reniform spot; this dusky subterminal line is more prominent in western populations (see next).
See other identification information on the Pacific Northwest Moths
species page (3). All of the specimens barcoded to date on the
BOLD website are from the western populations from Arizona north to Oregon. These examples and those illustrated on the Pacific NW website are slightly but recognizably different from Texas/Oklahoma examples (iNaturalist, BugGuide) and there is a wide geographical divide between these populations
(1). Although Lafontaine et al. (2014) did not separate these
(1), caution is advised; these may represent two cryptic species [C. Sexton].
Genitalia:
Range
This species "occurs from the intermontane region of Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah southward to southern California and Arizona and southeastward to the Gulf Coast of Texas"
(1).
Habitat
See comments on the Pacific Northwest Moths
species page (3).
Season
"Adults were collected rarely in the spring, mostly in March; the second generation occurs from mid-August to mid-November with the flight earlier in the North than in the extreme South"
(1).
Flight dates in Texas range from September 14 to November 9, peaking in October (iNaturalist, BG). A single March record from Texas is suspect.
Life Cycle
Larvae were described by Crumb (1956)
(4) and Godfrey (1972)
(5).
See Also
Grayer forms of the present species are confusable with
Lacinipolia teligera but the latter species has a short dark basal streak on the FW, a doubled AM line, and a conspicuous pair of small black and white spots near the outer angle (part of the row of dark subterminal dots).
Print References
Crumb, S.E. 1956. "The larvae of the Phalaenidae".
United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin, 1135:
145-146 (4).
Godfrey, G.L. 1972. "A review and reclassification of larvae of the subfamily Hadeninae (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) of America north of Mexico".
United States Department of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin, 1450: 152
(5).
Lafontaine, J.D; Walsh, J.B.; Ferris, C.D. 2014. "A revision of the genus
Protorthodes McDunnough with descriptions of a new genus and four new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Eriopygini)".
ZooKeys 421: 170, figs. 46–49, 70, 87; map 14
(1).
Smith, J.B. 1900. "A hundred new moths of the family Noctuidae".
Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 22(1203):
476-477 (2).
