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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Butterflies and Moths (Lepidoptera) » Owlet Moths and kin (Noctuoidea) » Owlet Moths (Noctuidae) » Heliothinae » Heliocheilus » Paradoxical Grass Moth - Hodges#11074 (Heliocheilus paradoxus)

Species Heliocheilus paradoxus - Paradoxical Grass Moth - Hodges#11074

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Season · Food · See Also · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited
Noctuid - Heliocheilus paradoxus Paradoxical Grass Moth - Hodges #11074 (Heliocheilus paradoxus) - Heliocheilus paradoxus - male moth, med-brown, hairy - Heliocheilus paradoxus Noctuidae? - Heliocheilus paradoxus Paradoxical Grass Moth - Heliocheilus paradoxus - female Heliocheilus paradoxus Paradoxical Grass Moth - Heliocheilus paradoxus Paradoxical Grass Moth - Hodges#11074 - Heliocheilus paradoxus
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 Heliothinae
Genus Heliocheilus
Species paradoxus (Paradoxical Grass Moth - Hodges#11074)
Hodges Number
11074
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Heliocheilus paradoxus Grote(1), 1865 (2), (3)
Size
Forewing length 11-13 mm. (4)
Identification
Grote (1865) original description is online. 329.
Sexually dimorphic. Males have a costal "bulge" along front of the FW and two elongate oval "windows" on the FW which can appear translucent.

              ♂                               ♀
Range
Heppner (2003)(5) reported the range to include eastern North America Ontario and Minnesota to Florida(6); California(7) and Oregon; Mexico.
Most common in the Southwest from southern California to Texas and south to central Mexico. (8), (4), (9), (10), (11)
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Season
The main flight period is April to October with extended season in the southern areas. (8), (4)
Food
Heppner (2003) listed two host plants of the family Gramineae. (5)
Bothriochloa barbinodis (Lag.) Herter (cane bluestem).
Triodea fusca ??
Powell & Opler (2009) stated the host is uncertain but probably grasses. (4)
See Also
Images of the female are confusable with Corn Earworm, Helicoverpa zea, but the latter is substantially larger (FW 16-18 mm) with a straighter FW costal margin. Also look for a characteristic buff “doughnut” halo around the small dark orbicular spot on Corn Earworm.
.
Print References
Grote, A.R., 1865. Descriptions of North American Lepidoptera No. 6, Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, 4: 329
Powell, J.A., & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press, plate 52, fig. 33; p. 291.(4)
Internet References
Pacific Northwest Moths (11)
Moth Photographers Group (8)
Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (12)
Works Cited
1.Augustus Radcliffe Grote, Lepidopterist (1841-1903)
2.Check list of the Lepidoptera of America north of Mexico.
Hodges, et al. (editors). 1983. E. W. Classey, London. 284 pp.
3.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 .
4.Moths of Western North America
Powell and Opler. 2009. UC Press.
5.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida
J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.
6.Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Florida
7.Essig Museum of Entomology, California Moth Species List
8.North American Moth Photographers Group
9.Moths of Brackenridge Field Laboratory University of Texas at Austin
10.Moths of Southeast Arizona
11.Pacific Northwest Moths
12.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Maury J. Heiman on 12 June, 2009 - 7:02pm
Additional contributions by Chuck Sexton, Kyhl Austin
Last updated 6 January, 2019 - 6:33pm

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