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

Species Protorthodes rufula - Rufous Quaker - Hodges#10557

1600 Protorthodes rufula - Rufous Quaker 10557 - Protorthodes rufula Noctuid of some kind? - Protorthodes rufula Noctuid - Protorthodes rufula Protorthodes rufula ? - Protorthodes rufula Orthosia behrensiana ? - Protorthodes rufula Coppery moth - Protorthodes rufula Owlet Moth - Rufous Quaker - Protorthodes rufula Moth - Protorthodes rufula
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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 Eriopygini
Genus Protorthodes
Species rufula (Rufous Quaker - Hodges#10557)
Hodges Number
10557
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Protorthodes rufula (Grote, 1874)
Dianthoecia rufula Grote, 1874
Explanation of Names
rufula: presumably from the Latin "rufus" (red); probably refers to the color of the forewing, and is the origin of the suggested common name Rufous Quaker.
Size
Forewing length 13-16 mm (1), (2)
Identification
Adult - forewing rust-colored, reddish-brown, or dull orangish; AM, PM, and subterminal lines distinct; orbicular and reniform spots dark brownish-gray, outlined in pale scales; dark scales along veins from PM line to outer margin give subterminal area a faintly streaked appearance; fringe dark; hindwing dirty gray, paler toward base, with dark gray veins and discal spot; fringe white.
Larva - dark gray with pink or red tinge dorsally and sometimes with a bronze sheen; pale middorsal and subdorsal lines and a segmental series of dark ovoid markings. The spiracles are brown with black rims. The cervical and anal shields are white with black lateral edging, The head is pale with brown and black reticulation and coronal stripes. (1)
Range
British Columbia to California, east to at least Arizona and Utah.
Season
Adults fly mainly from April to September in California.
Food
Larval host: rosaceous trees and shrubs including Malus, Prunus, and Pyrus.
Life Cycle
Larva pupate in soil. (1)
Print References
Crumb, S.E., 1956. The Larvae of the Phalaenidae [Noctuidae]. U.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1135: 127. (3)
Lafontaine, J.D, J.B. Walsh & C.D. Ferris 2014. A revision of the genus Protorthodes McDunnough with descriptions of a new genus and four new species (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Noctuinae, Eriopygini). ZooKeys 421: 139-179 (multiple formats). (2)
Works Cited
1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.A revision of the genus Protorthodes McDunnough with descriptions of a new genus and four new species
Lafontaine, J.D, J.B. Walsh & C.D. Ferris. 2014. ZooKeys 421: 139-179.
3.The Larvae of the Phalaenidae [Noctuidae]
Samuel Ebb Crumb. 1956. U.S. Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin 1135: 1-356.