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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) » Apameini » Borer Moths (Papaipema) » Rigid Sunflower Borer - Hodges#9503 (Papaipema rigida)

Species Papaipema rigida - Rigid Sunflower Borer - Hodges#9503

Classification · Hodges Number · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Life Cycle · See Also · Internet References

Papaipema, spent pupa - Papaipema rigida

Papaipema, larva, Compass Plant root - Papaipema rigida

Papaipema, Golden Alexanders, 1st sign - Papaipema rigida

Rigid Sunflower Borer on False Sunflower - Papaipema rigida

Rigid Sunflower Borer, dorsal - Papaipema rigida

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 Apameini

Genus Papaipema (Borer Moths)

Species rigida (Rigid Sunflower Borer - Hodges#9503)

Hodges Number

9503

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

described in 1877 by Grote, who originally placed it in genus Gortyna

Size

wingspan about 28-29 mm, based on two Internet photos

Identification

Adult: forewing light yellow with almost straight PM line and purplish-brown shading beyond it except for pale apical patch; reniform, orbicular, and claviform spots all filled with ground color, not white; AM line W-shaped, with darker shading in basal area; fringe dark; hindwing off-white to pale yellowish with dark discal spot, veins, and terminal line

Range

New Brunswick to Pennsylvania, west to Iowa and Manitoba; type specimens collected in Pennsylvania and Illinois

Habitat

meadows where foodplant grows; adults are nocturnal and come to light

Season

adults fly from June to October

Food

larvae feed on Stiff Sunflower (Helianthus pauciflorus [=rigidus]), Smooth Oxeye (Heliopsis helianthoides), and Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea)

Life Cycle

Larva in root; larva; pupa; adult

See Also

Burdock Borer (Papaipema cataphracta) has a darker forewing whose spots are paler than the ground color.

Internet References

live and pinned adult images by various photographers (Moth Photographers Group)

Butterflies and Moths of North America

iNaturalist

Moths of North Carolina

type specimen localities (Markku Savela, FUNET)

Contributed by Robin McLeod on 24 September, 2009 - 9:26am
Additional contributions by marcie oconnor
Last updated 25 March, 2024 - 8:18am

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