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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Window-winged Moths (Thyridoidea) » Window-winged Moths (Thyrididae) » Thyridinae » Pseudothyris » Mournful Thyris - Hodges#6077 (Pseudothyris sepulchralis)

Species Pseudothyris sepulchralis - Mournful Thyris - Hodges#6077

Representative Images

Mournful Thyris - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Pseudothyris sepulchralis (Mournful Thyris) - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Mournful Thyris - Hodges#6077 - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Mournful Thyris - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Mournful Thyris - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Black and White Moth - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Foresters type - Pseudothyris sepulchralis Mournful Thyris - Pseudothyris sepulchralis
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 Thyridoidea (Window-winged Moths)
Family Thyrididae (Window-winged Moths)
Subfamily Thyridinae
Genus Pseudothyris
Species sepulchralis (Mournful Thyris - Hodges#6077)

Hodges Number

6077

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Thyris sepulchralis Guérin-Méneville, 1832
Pseudothyris sepulchralis (Guérin-Méneville, 1832) Thiele, 1986
Thyris lugubris Boisduval, 1852
Thyris margaritana (Clemens, 1862)

Size

Wingspan 15-23 mm. (1)

Identification

Adult: wings black with large median and other smaller white spots; those at margin give wings a ragged look. Hindwing has white median patch. (1)

Range

Maine to Florida, west to Texas, north to Michigan and Ontario. (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.

Season

Adults appear to be most common from February to July. (1), Moth Photographers Group

Food

Larvae feed on Smilax species. (7)

Adults take nectar from flowers of herbaceous plants, and have been seen taking fluids from damp sand (guide photos and photos in Internet references).

Remarks

Conspicuous when seen flying in daytime because of bold pattern. (1) Sometimes mistaken for Butterflies.

See Also

Spotted Thyris (Thyris maculata) is smaller, and its forewing has orange shading and fewer white spots.

Print References

Covell, p. 393, plate 56 #13 (8) (1)
Thiele, J.H.R., 1986. Die Gattung Thyris Hoffmannsegg, 1803. Uber die Ergebnisse der Untersuchungen fur eine Monographie (Lep., Thyridae). Atalanta (Munchen), 17: 105-146.

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group (9)
The Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (10)
Butterflies and Moths of North America
Anmerkungen zur biologieund verbreitung von Pseudothyris sepulchralis - Jurgen H. R. Thiele (in German; life cycle photos)
iNaturalist

Works Cited

1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
2.Oklahoma moth species list by county (PDF)
3.Moths of Brackenridge Field Laboratory University of Texas at Austin
4.Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Florida
5.South Carolina Moth Species
6.Moths of Dallas County, Texas
7.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida
J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.
8.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
9.North American Moth Photographers Group
10.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by tom murray on 11 June, 2005 - 6:21pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Steve Nanz, Beatriz Moisset, Robin McLeod, Maury Heiman, David Ferguson, Robert Lord Zimlich, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, George Smiley
Last updated 28 October, 2024 - 5:39pm

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