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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Erebidae » Erebinae » Melipotini » Melipotis » Merry Melipotis - Hodges#8607 (Melipotis jucunda)

Species Melipotis jucunda - Merry Melipotis - Hodges#8607

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Scrub Land Moth - Melipotis jucunda Moth resting on Garberia heterophylla - Melipotis jucunda Moth - Melipotis jucunda Backyard moth - Melipotis jucunda Melipotis jucunda? - Melipotis jucunda Melipotis jucunda Moth - Melipotis jucunda moth sp. - Melipotis jucunda
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 Erebinae
Tribe Melipotini
Genus Melipotis
Species jucunda (Merry Melipotis - Hodges#8607)
Hodges Number
8607
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Melipotis jucunda Hübner, 1818
* phylogenetic sequence #930878
Explanation of Names
jucunda - Latin for 'pleasant, merry' (1)
Numbers
Thirteen Melipotis species are found in America north of Mexico.(2)
Size
Wingspan 35-42 mm
Identification
see images at Moth Photographers Group
Range
Across most of the US and western Canada, but largely absent from New England - Map (MPG),(3)
Food
Willow (Salix bonplandia, S. wrighti) Acacia sp., Calliandra eriophylla.
Wagner lists catclaw blackbead (Pithecellobium unguis-cati), oak, and willow.
Life Cycle
Two or three broods in New Jersey, multiple generations in Deep South with mature caterpillars throughout growing season.
larva; larva; pupa; adult
See Also
acontioides females can be easily confused
Print References
Lafontaine J.D. & B.C. Schmidt 2010. Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America North of Mexico. p.35 (2)
Powell, J A. & P.A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. pl.43.30f, 43.31m, p.257 (4)
Wagner, D.L., D.F. Schweitzer, J B. Sullivan, R. Reardon 2011. Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America. Princeton University Press. p.149 (5)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.
BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.
Moths of Southeastern Arizona - listed for Arizona with linked photo of pinned adult.
Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America - (PDF download) larval description p. 156.
Works Cited
1.Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms
Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.
2.Annotated check list of the Noctuoidea (Insecta, Lepidoptera) of North America north of Mexico.
Donald J. Lafontaine, B. Christian Schmidt. 2010. ZooKeys 40: 1–239 .
3.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
4.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
5.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 4 July, 2005 - 2:05pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, Maury Heiman, marcie oconnor, Randy Hardy, Fyn Kynd
Last updated 7 April, 2019 - 8:21am

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