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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Cutworm or Dart Moths (Noctuinae) » Orthosiini » Egira » Alternate Woodling - Hodges#10517 (Egira alternans)

Species Egira alternans - Alternate Woodling - Hodges#10517

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · Internet References · Works Cited
Dagger Moth? - Egira alternans Dagger Moth? - Egira alternans Alternate Woodling - Egira alternans moth - Egira alternans Alternate Woodling 1 - Egira alternans Moth to porch light - Egira alternans unknown moth - Egira alternans Please help us to identify this moth. - Egira alternans
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 Noctuidae (Owlet Moths)
Subfamily Noctuinae (Cutworm or Dart Moths)
Tribe Orthosiini
Genus Egira
Species alternans (Alternate Woodling - Hodges#10517)
Hodges Number
10517
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Egira alternans (Walker, 1857)
Synonyms:
Hapalia alternans ( Walker, 1857)
Xylomiges tabulata (Grote, 1878)
Explanation of Names
Common and scientific names derived from the alternate light and dark bands around the adult’s abdomen. (1)
Size
TL ≈ 18-21mm
Identification
Adult: FW pale gray, shaded reddish-brown in basal and median areas. Often has thick, black bar in inner median area. Large, whitish orbicular spot is fused to pale band that extends to the inner margin. Reddish-brown reniform spot is outlined with white. (2)
Larva: Orange-brown head, usually with darker reticulations and coronal bars than Orthosia revicta. (1)
Range
Moth Photographers Group - distribution & flight-period chart
BugGuide - distribution & flight-period chart
Habitat
Abounds in the coastal woodland of North Carolina and New Jersey, especially those with an abundance of heaths. (1)
Season
Flight season is brief, lasting just three weeks in most years. (1)
Food
Adult: Visit flowers, Chickasaw Plum is a favorite in New Jersey. They do not come to bait (1)
Larva: Quercus nigra (Water Oak) a
Life Cycle
Pupa overwinter in the ground (1)
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group – images of live & pinned adults; images of larva
BOLD Systems - images of pinned DNA supported specimens
Tulane University – info & images of larva
Noctuidae of North America – image of pinned adult and synonyms
Works Cited
1.Owlet Caterpillars of Eastern North America
David L. Wagner. 2011. Princeton University Press.
2.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
Contributed by tom murray on 14 August, 2005 - 7:21pm
Additional contributions by Steve Nanz, JohnMaxwell22, Robert Lord Zimlich
Last updated 9 February, 2022 - 4:45am

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