Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Clickable Guide

Interactive image map to choose major taxa Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

Upcoming Events

National Moth Week was July 19-27, and the Summer 2025 gathering in Louisiana, July 19-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Species Trichordestra tacoma - Hodges#10303

Representative Images

Tacoma Cutworm Moth - Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra tacoma Moth - Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra legitima - Trichordestra tacoma Trichordestra tacoma - female
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 Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Hadenini
Genus Trichordestra
Species tacoma (Trichordestra tacoma - Hodges#10303)

Hodges Number

10303

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Lacanobia tacoma
described in 1900 by Strecker, who originally placed it in genus Mamestra

Size

wingspan about 30 mm, based on photos by Jim Vargo at MPG

Identification

Adult: forewing brownish-gray with dark gray patches; subterminal area pale purplish-gray; subterminal line whitish, with distinct W-shaped jog near middle; hindwing yellowish-gray with dark veins and broad dark terminal band; fringe pale basally, dark distally

Range

across southern Canada and northern United States, south in the west to California

Season

adults fly from May to July

Food

larvae feed on willow, willowherb, chokecherry, elderberry, blueberry, spiraea, birch, spreading dogbane, and other shrubs and low plants [Handfield, 1999]

See Also

Trichordestra legitima lacks the black patch bordering the lower end of the forewing reniform spot as seen on tacoma.
Aster Cutworm (Trichordestra lilacina) and Wrinkled Trichordestra (T. rugosa) both lack a W-shaped jog in subterminal line on forewing

Print References

Handfield, Louis. 1999. Les Guides des Papillons du Quebec. Broquet. 662 pp.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Pacific Northwest Moths
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 14 November, 2007 - 10:22am
Additional contributions by Steve Morris
Last updated 21 December, 2023 - 6:17pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact