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Species Pygarctia murina - Mousey Tiger Moth - Hodges#8250

Grey with red markings - Pygarctia murina - female

Lichen Moth ? - Pygarctia murina - female

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 Arctiinae (Tiger and Lichen Moths)

Tribe Arctiini (Tiger Moths)

Subtribe Phaegopterina

Genus Pygarctia

Species murina (Mousey Tiger Moth - Hodges#8250)

Hodges Number

8250

Other Common Names

Mouse-colored Tiger Moth

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Pygarctia murina (Stretch, 1885)

Euchaetes murina Stretch, 1885

P. oslari Rothschild, 1910

P. murina albistrigata Barnes & McDunnough, 1913 (now a synonym of Pygarctia pterygostigma Dyar, 1909)

P. poliochroa Hampson, 1916

* phylogenetic sequence #930423

Explanation of Names

Specific name murina is Latin for "mouse". (1)

Size

Forewing length 13-16 mm. (2)

Larvae mature to 22 mm (Comstock & Dammers, 1935).

Pupa 11 mm (Comstock & Dammers, 1935).

Identification

Larva - typical "wooly bear" type of this group. Ground color purple-brown or blue-gray, a narrow lemon yellow subdorsal stripe, a wide yellow stripe below spiracles, black pencil tufts and longer white hairs, head dark orange with orange hairs (adapted from Comstock & Dammers).

Range

Southern Texas west to southeastern California, southwest Utah, southern Colorado. (2)

Season

A single flight from late July to September. (2)

Food

Henne found them on a "errect red-stemmed" spurge (Euphorbia) in California and reared them on twinevive (Funastrum, =Philibertia) and spurge (Comstock & Dammers, 1935).

Life Cycle

Pupation occurs in a silk cocoon within surface debris (Comstock & Dammers, 1935).

Print References

Barnes, W. & J.H. McDunnough 1913. New N. Am. Lepidoptera with notes on described species. Cont. Nat. Hist. Lep. North America 2(3): 103 (Pygarctia murina albistrigata)

Comstock, J.A. & C.A. Dammers 1935. Notes on the life histories of three butterflies and three moths from California . Bull. Southern California Acad. Sci. 34(3): 220, pl.59-60

Hampson, G.F. 1916. Descriptions of new species of the family Arctidae in the British Museum. Novitates Zoologicae 23: 238 (Pygarctia poliochroa)

Rothschild, W. 1910. Descriptions of new species of Arctianae in the Tring Museum. Novitates Zoologicae 7: 175 (Pygarctia oslari)

Stretch, R.H. 1885. Descriptions of new species of Heterocera. Entomologica Americana 1(6): 106

Internet References

Moth Photographers Group - species page

Range map (butterfliesandmoths.org)

Moths of Southeastern Arizona - pinned photo

Works Cited

1.	Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms Donald J. Borror. 1960. Mayfield Publishing Company.

2.	Moths of Western North America Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.

Contributed by John F. Carr on 27 April, 2009 - 9:07pm
Additional contributions by Steve Nanz, Randy Hardy
Last updated 15 August, 2018 - 6:12am

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