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Species Papaipema cataphracta - Burdock Borer - Hodges#9466

Noctuidae: Papaipema duovata? - Papaipema cataphracta Noctuidae: Papaipema duovata? - Papaipema cataphracta Noctuidae: Papaipema - Papaipema cataphracta Noctuidae: Papaipema - Papaipema cataphracta Burdock Borer - Hodges#9466 - Papaipema cataphracta Papaipema, larva dorsal - Papaipema cataphracta Papaipema cataphracta Pennsylvania Moth - Papaipema cataphracta
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 cataphracta (Burdock Borer - Hodges#9466)
Hodges Number
9466
Explanation of Names
CATAPHRACTA: from the Latin "cataphracta" and/or the Greek "kataphraktes" (a coat of mail) - from the root words "kata" (against) + "phrassein" (to fence); perhaps a reference to the forewing spots and pattern, reminiscent of chain-mail armor worn during battle in ancient Greece and Rome
Size
wingspan 29-45 mm
Identification
Adult: FW yellow with brown and grayish-violet shading; yellow patch near apex; PM line sharply bent near costa; orbicular, claviform and reniform spots yellow. HW yellow with brownish shading and median line [adapted from description by Charles Covell]
Range
Quebec and Maine to Florida, west to Louisiana, north to Saskatchewan
Season
adults fly from August to October
Food
larvae bore in rhizomes and stems of aster, burdock, corn, cottonwood, iris, lily, sunflower, thistle, tomato, and other plants
Life Cycle
Plant damage on Rudbeckia laciniata; larva; larva; pupa; adult
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group – images of live & pinned adults
BOLD Systems - images of pinned of DNA supported specimens
pinned adult image (John Glaser, Maryland)
pinned adult image (James Adams, Dalton State College, Georgia)
live larva image in cottonwood stem (James Solomon, USDA, forestryimages.org)
common name reference plus food plants and flight season (Ohio State U.)