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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Cutworm or Dart Moths (Noctuinae) » Hadenini » Melanchra » Hitched Arches - Hodges#10292 (Melanchra adjuncta)

Species Melanchra adjuncta - Hitched Arches - Hodges#10292

Classification · Hodges Number · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Hitched Arches - Melanchra adjuncta Noctuidae: Melanchra adjuncta - Melanchra adjuncta hitched arches caterpillar? - Melanchra adjuncta caterpillar - Melanchra adjuncta caterpillar on Common Toadflax - Melanchra adjuncta Unidentified fall caterpillar - Melanchra adjuncta Melanchra adjuncta ? - Melanchra adjuncta 932874 Melanchra adjuncta - Melanchra adjuncta
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 Melanchra
Species adjuncta (Hitched Arches - Hodges#10292)
Hodges Number
10292
Other Common Names
Chenille à chevrons - En français… Ilze V-G.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Melanchra adjuncta (Guenée, 1852)
Chariptera adjuncta Guenée, 1841 (nomina nuda)
Mamestra adjuncta Guenée, 1852
Size
wingspan 29-40 mm
Identification
Adult: forewing ground color dark gray or black, providing good contrast against the following four areas of white: a small basal patch, small orbicular spot, large reniform spot, and broad wavy terminal line; reniform spot with wavy basal margin and curved black line in center; all-dark melanic specimens fairly common in Ontario [Jeff Crolla, per. com.]
hindwing gray, darker at outer margin
Larva: two forms - either light green or light brown; both forms have darker diagonal markings dorsally and ventrolaterally, and thin whitish dorsal line; head dark with 3 white dorsal lines; 8th abdominal segment humped, with dark lateral patch
Range
coast to coast in southern Canada and northern US, south to California, Arkansas, North Carolina - Map (MPG)
Habitat
wooded riparian areas, wood edges, clearings, brushy areas, waste places
Season
adults fly from May to September
Food
larvae feed on leaves of herbaceous plants (alfalfa, asparagus, bracken, clover, dandelion, goldenrod, milkweed, plantain, trefoil) and less commonly on woody plants (alder, birch, elder, elm, gooseberry, honeysuckle, willow) (1)
Life Cycle
two generations per year
Print References
Boisduval in Boisduval & Guenée, 1852. Noctuélites. Histoire Naturelle des Insectes. Species Général des Lépidoptéres. 5 (1): 199
Guenée, 1841 Annales de la Société entomologique de France. 10: 243
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - MPG (2)
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (3)
Pacific Northwest Moths (4)
Butterflies and Moths of North America - BAMONA (5)
live larvae and adult images plus other info (Jeremy Tatum, Butterflies and Moths of Southern Vancouver Island)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
food plants; PDF doc plus flight season and life cycle (Macrolepidoptera of Mont Saint-Hilaire Region, McGill U., Quebec)(6)
The Lepidoptera of Wayne County, Ohio (Ohio State U.)
presence in California; list (U. of California at Berkeley)
Works Cited
1.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
4.Pacific Northwest Moths
5.Butterflies and Moths of North America (BAMONA)
6.Macrolepidoptera of Mont Saint-Hilaire Region
Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 27 May, 2005 - 8:23am
Additional contributions by john and jane balaban, Steve Nanz, Robin McLeod, Mike Quinn, Steve Morris
Last updated 27 January, 2023 - 5:40pm

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