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

Species Nola cereella - Sorghum Webworm Moth - Hodges#8991

Sorghum Webworm Moth - Hodges #8991 - Nola cereella Sorghum Webworm Moth - Hodges #8991 - Nola cereella Sorghum webworm moth - Nola cereella Nola cereella - Sorghum Webworm Moth ? - Nola cereella Sorghum Webworm Moth - Nola cereella Sorghum Webworm Moth - Nola cereella Sorghum Webworm Moth - Nola cereella white moth - Nola cereella
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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 Nolidae (Nolid Moths)
Subfamily Nolinae
Genus Nola
Species cereella (Sorghum Webworm Moth - Hodges#8991)
Hodges Number
8991
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Nola cereella (Bosc, [1800])
formerly Nola sorghiella
Celama sorghiella Riley
specific epithet misspelled "cereela" on some web sites
Size
wingspan 12-18 mm
larva length to 14 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing white with vague yellowish to brownish shading along costa and outer margin; PM and ST lines curved, close together; orbicular spot dark; black shading beyond lower ST line; 4 or 5 tufts of scales along the costa are very prominent in some individuals but inconspicuous or lacking in other individuals
[adapted from description by Charles Covell]

Larva: greenish-yellow to tan with four darker red or brown stripes down the back and covered with closely-spaced hairs and spines
Range
southeastern United States: Texas to Florida, north to New York; south through tropics
Habitat
grassy fields, sorghum plantations
Season
adults emerge in late spring
Food
larvae feed on the seed heads of sorghum, (Sorghum vulgare)
Life Cycle
overwinters as a larva in plant debris
Print References
Beadle and Leckie, pp. 368-369 (1)
Covell, p. 152, plate 31(11) (2)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group species page, plate of Plusiinae-Nolinae
pinned adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
pinned adult image (John Snyder, Furman U., South Carolina)
Kentucky Lepidopterist Moth Checklist - county records for Kentucky
live larva image and other info (U. of Arkansas)
live larva image and other info (Texas A&M U.)
distribution (Dalton State College, Georgia)
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
2.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.