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Species Zanclognatha cruralis - Early Zanclognatha - Hodges#8351

Moth ID help - Zanclognatha cruralis Early Fan Foot (Zanclognatha cruralis) - Zanclognatha cruralis Zanclognatha cruralis Early Zanclognatha - Zanclognatha cruralis Erebidae, Litter Moth larva, dorsal - Zanclognatha cruralis Early Fan-foot - Zanclognatha cruralis Zanclognatha cruralis  - Zanclognatha cruralis Zanclognatha obscuripennis - Zanclognatha cruralis - male
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 Erebidae
Subfamily Herminiinae (Litter Moths)
Genus Zanclognatha
Species cruralis (Early Zanclognatha - Hodges#8351)
Hodges Number
8351
Other Common Names
Early Fan-foot
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
see genus page for discussion on Zanclognatha vs. Polypogon classification
Size
TL ≈ 15-17mm (1)
WS ≈ 28-30mm
Identification
Adult: FW pale tan (spring brood ) to dark brown (summer brood) • AM dark brown, suffused, sharply kinked near costa • PM with small notch in large bulge • ST is straight from costa to inner margin, continuing on the HW • Terminal line is a series of brown dots
Larvae: See "Preliminary key to Zanclognatha larvae" (2)
Range
Eastern North America
Season
April-July, two broods southward.
Life Cycle
Eggs have been reported on beech leaves, caterpillars probably drop later to feed on dead leaves. Larvae reported to feed on conifer needles, but probably feed mostly on dead leaves.
See Also
Zanclognatha obscuripennis consistently has a yellow st line that is not edged on either side with a dark line, like this, while Zanclognatha cruralis has the yellow st line edged along the inner margin with a dark line, like this.
Print References
Covell, p. 324, plate 41 #22 (3)
Wagner, Caterpillars of Eastern North America, p. 345--photo of adult (specimen) and caterpillar (4)
Grote, A.R., 1872. Descriptions of North American Noctuidae, No. 2. Transactions of the American Entomological Society, 4: 97.
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group – images of live and pinned adults
BOLD Systems - images of pinned DNA supported specimens
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
2.A new Zanclognatha from eastern North America and a preliminary key to the larvae of the genus...
Wagner, D.L. & T.L. McCabe. 2011. ZooKeys 149: 89-101.
3.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
4.Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2005. Princeton University Press.