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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths (Geometroidea) » Geometrid Moths (Geometridae) » Emeralds (Geometrinae) » Synchlorini » Synchlora » Southern Emerald Moth - Hodges#7059 (Synchlora frondaria)

Species Synchlora frondaria - Southern Emerald Moth - Hodges#7059

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Synchlora species - 4th instar larva - Synchlora frondaria - male Southern Emerald Moth - Synchlora frondaria Caterpillar to Moth - Synchlora frondaria Emerald caterpillar - Synchlora frondaria Synchlora frondaria Moth - Synchlora frondaria - male Moth - Synchlora frondaria - male Moth - Synchlora frondaria - 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 Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Geometrinae (Emeralds)
Tribe Synchlorini
Genus Synchlora
Species frondaria (Southern Emerald Moth - Hodges#7059)
Hodges Number
7059
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Synchlora frondaria Guenée, [1858](1)
Geometra frondaria
Aplodes frondaria
Phylogenetic sequence # 207425
Numbers
There are twelve named species of Synchlora in America north of Mexico. (2),(1)
Size
Wingspan about 15 mm. (1)
Identification
Larva - A variable twig mimic. Larvae take on the colors of their host plant and employ decorative crypsis by attaching plant material to themselves. (3)
Larval abdomen tip, with hooks:
Range
Southern USA; Central and South America; Greater & Lesser Antilles.
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Food
Larval foodplants include sunflower, Bidens, Rudbeckia sp., and others.
Life Cycle
Larva; Larva; Larva; Cocoon; Cocoon; Cocoon; Adult Female; Adult Male:
See Also
Synchlora aerata - Wavy-lined Emerald; also has the white stripe on the dorsal of the abdomen, but smoother transverse lines:

Compare on the pinned plates of Moth Photographers Group.
Print References
Ferguson, D.C. 1969. A revision of the moths of the subfamily Geometrinae of America north of Mexico (Insecta, Lepidoptera). Peabody Museum Nat. Hist. Bulletin 29:154-155
Ferguson, D.C. 1985. The Moths of America North of Mexico Fascicle 18.1. Geometroidea, Geometridae (Part), Geometrinae. p.85. pl.3.67-72 (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group
Dallas County Lepidopterists' Society
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)
Works Cited
1.The Moths of America North of Mexico Fascicle 18.1. Geometroidea, Geometridae (Part), Geometrinae
Douglas C. Ferguson . 1985. The Wedge Entomological Research Foundation.
2.North American Moth Photographers Group
3.The double cloak of invisibility: phenotypic plasticity and larval decoration in a geometrid moth, ...
M. R. Canfield, S. Chang, N. E. Pierce . 2009. Ecological Entomology 34: 412–414 .
Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 21 June, 2005 - 6:32pm
Additional contributions by cotinis, Chuck Entz, Maury Heiman, Randy Hardy, Robert H. Biagi
Last updated 25 November, 2020 - 8:33am

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