Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Grammia incorrupta (Hy. Edwards, 1881)
Arctia incorrupta Hy. Edwards, 1881
Arctia geneura Strecker, 1878
* phylogenetic sequence #930255
Size
Wingspan about 38-40 mm (MPG photos).
Larva to 32 mm (Medlar, 1940).
Range
Arizona, west Texas, and Mexico (Powell & Opler, 2009).
(1)Food
Personal observations - D.J. Ferguson:
Larvae will feed on a variety of plant species, depending upon what is available, and can be reared on almost anything green (grass, assorted weeds, shrub leaves, lettuce, etc.). In habitat they are usually found walking (or running rapidly) across the ground, and tend to stop and nibble on whatever they come to. It seems that Apache Plume Fallugia paradoxa may be a favorite, as the caterpillars are often found in numbers on this shrub.
Sequester pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) from their food plant. The caterpillars have specialized chemoreceptors that detect PA and stimulate feeding.
(2)Remarks
Has a long history of confusion with G. nevadensis, and mostly it has been reported and recorded under that name.
A common species in the Southwest, often comming in large numbers to lights. They seem to be the most active between midnight and sunrise, particularly on moonless nights. Light wind doesn't seem to bother them too much up to a point, and they will often be the only moths to come to lights on windy nights.
Print References
Choi, C. 2009. A Toxin a Day Keeps the Maggots Away. Science NOW
13 March 2009
Conner, W. E. (ed.) 2009. Tiger Moths and Woolly Bears: Behavior, Ecology, and Evolution of the Arctiidae.
(3)
Edwards, Hy. 1881. Description of new species and varieties of Arctiidae. Papillio 1:
38
Medlar, W. P. 1940. Notes on the life histories of two western North American moths. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 39(2):
118-120
Powell, J. A. & P. A. Opler 2009. Moths of Western North America, Pl. 46.55m; p. 268
Schmidt, B. Christian, 2009. 'Taxonomic revision of the genus
Grammia Rambur (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Arctiinae)'; Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 156, 507–597. With 135 figures
Singer M. S., K. C. Mace, E. A. Bernays 2009. Self-Medication as Adaptive Plasticity: Increased Ingestion of Plant Toxins by Parasitized Caterpillars. PLoS ONE 4(3): (
View)
Strecker, H. 1878. Descriptions of some species and varieties of North American Heterocera, mostly new. Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 2:
270, pl.9, f.5 (synonym
Arctia geneura)
