Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Paleacrita merriccata Dyar, [1903]
Numbers
Powell & Opler (2009) reported three described species of the genus
Paleacrita in North America.
(1)Size
male forewing length 14 - 18 mm, females wingless
Identification
Adult - similar to P. vernata, less variable in maculation, with cross lines obsolescent; discal dot white, 0.7 to 0.8 mm. long, narrowly outlined in dark grayish brown; t. p. line usually represented by dark costal dash; cubital vein variably dark scaled where cross lines would cross; s. t. line tending to be slightly stronger than that of P. vernata, grayish white, irregular in course, with terminal area tending to be darker than remainder of wing; terminal line and fringe similar to those of P. vernata. Hind wings similar to those of P. vernata
Range
eastern North America, central Illinois, eastern Missouri, west central Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas
Season
adults fly in the north March, April, and May; south January and February
Remarks
Within this species the forewings vary from having obsolescent to prominent cross lines, and with some specimens possessing a broad dark band distad of the t. p. line. Examples from the south tend to be larger, darker, and to have more suffused maculation than do males from the northern portion of the range.
See Also
Paleacrita vernata (Spring Cankerworm). The males can be separated from those of P. vernata by the large, round, white discal dot of the forewing. The female of P. merriccata is darker than that sex of P. vernata, with darker hairlike scaling on the body and appendages. The body covering of P. vernata consists of scales having each with its distal end divided into numerous fine, elongate, projecting finger-like points; in P. merriccata the ends of these scales are much less pronounced
Print References
Rindge, F.H. 1975. A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).
Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 156(2).
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