Other Common Names
Titian Peale's Pyralid Moth [source = Moth Photographer's Group, though now a misnomer; this species is now classified as a Crambid, not a Pyralid].
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Perispasta caeculalis Zeller, 1875
genus name misspelled Peripasta on a number of web sites
Explanation of Names
Species name
caeculalis appears to be from Latin
caec blind
(1), and is perhaps an alteration (Latin diminutive
-ula-?) of the mythological
Caeculus, "little blind boy". Perhaps this is a reference to the little marks on the wings, appearing as closed eyes.
Common name due to its first being collected by
Titian Ramsay Peale?
Numbers
common; the only species in this genus in North America
Identification
Wings dark grayish-brown in both sexes; forewing outer margin indented and containing white fringe scales near apex. Male has white dash in middle of forewing; female does not. Hindwing brown with white fringe. Very worn moths with all fringe scales missing will have no white along outer margin of wings.
Range
Eastern North America and scattered locations westward. Noted from British Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Ontario, Quebec, Tennessee, Texas (based on Internet searches).
Habitat
fields, meadows; adults are nocturnal and attracted to light
Season
adults fly from April to August
Food
Honeysuckle (Lonicera) species, perhaps other plants in Caprifoliaceae.
Internet References
Strickland Museum
species account
a photograph from
Ohio by David Smith
adult image (Larry Line, Maryland)
presence in Texas; list (James Gillaspy, U. of Texas)
presence in Ontario; list (NHIC, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources)
presence in North Dakota; list (Gerald Fauske, North Dakota State U.)
Titian Peale Butterfly and Moth Collection, Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (type specimen?)
distribution map and references (Markku Savela, FUNET)
classification in Crambidae, subfamily Pyraustinae (Brian Pitkin, Butterflies and Moths of the World)