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 Alypiodes bimaculata - Two-spotted Forester - Hodges#9312

Representative Images

Day active Moth - Alypiodes bimaculata Two-spotted Forester - Alypiodes bimaculata Alypiodes? - Alypiodes bimaculata Alypiodes bimaculata Alypiodes sp - Alypiodes bimaculata Two-spotted Forester cat - Alypiodes bimaculata Alypiodes bimaculata Two-spotted Forester - Alypiodes bimaculata
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 Agaristinae
Genus Alypiodes
Species bimaculata (Two-spotted Forester - Hodges#9312)

Hodges Number

9312

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Alypiodes bimaculata (Herrich-Schäffer)
Orig. Comb: Agarista bimaculata Herrich-Schäffer, 1853
* phylogenetic sequence #931977

Explanation of Names

bimaculata - Latin for "two-spotted."

Numbers

2 spp. n. of Mex.

Size

Wingspan 1.7-2 cm (1)

Identification

Adult - variable. See description at Nearctica and note additional information under "Distribution".
Charles Melton (News of the Lepidopterists' Society Vol 60 #2) has raised caterpillars of both species and discovered that most online resources have the larvae confused.
A. bimaculata feeds on mirabilis
and A. geronimo feeds on Boerhavia

Range

AZ-TX / Mex. to C. Amer. (1), (2), (3), (4)

Habitat

Look for diurnal adults patrolling ridgetops. (1)

Season

Adults fly June through Septemeber. (3)

Food

Larvae feed on Mirabilis
Adults visit flowers such as sweet clover (Melilotus officinalis). (1)

Remarks

"Can be down right abundant in the Huachuca Mountains of SE Arizona in early August." (Fred Heath, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2006)

See Also

Alypiodes flavilinguis - bimaculata typically has forewing with a longer tapered white basal spot, shorter and more oval in flavilinguis, and prominent white markings on the apex of the tegula, lacking in flavilinguis. Larvae have white middorsal and subdorsal stripes, lacking in flavilinguis, and more regular black banding. The subventral area above the prolegs is mostly white, not jet black as in flavilinguis.

Print References

Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.51.4m, p.284

Internet References

Noctuidae of N. Amer. - Poole, Nearctica
Moth Photographers Group - MPG
Texas Entomology - Mike Quinn, 2007

Works Cited

1.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
2.Noctuidae of North America (nearctica.com)
3.North American Moth Photographers Group
4.The Moth Book
W. J. Holland. 1922. Doubleday, Page & Company.
Contributed by Tom Bentley on 7 February, 2008 - 9:23am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Steve Nanz, Mike Quinn, Randy Hardy
Last updated 23 July, 2021 - 4:35pm

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