Species Heliothis phloxiphaga - Darker-spotted Straw Moth - Hodges#11072

11072

Spotted Buff Gem

Heliothis phloxiphaga Grote(1) & Robinson, 1870

Heliothis interjacens Grote, 1880

Phylogenetic sequence # 932046

Wingspan 30-38 mm.

A medium-sized light yellow-brown or tan moth with darker markings. There is a broad darker brown median band crossing the forewing, which angles sharply inward at the lower end of the large blackish reniform, and a dark triangular patch near the apex. The hindwing is dirty white or very pale buff with a large dark thick discal crescent and a broad black terminal band with a pale, split spot at the anal angle. The very similar H. acesias has a yellowish (not buff) hindwing, less contrast on the forewing, and the forewing median band is not as sharply angled. There are also genitalic differences (see Hardwick, 1994). H. ononis is significantly smaller, less yellow and lacks most of the fine spotting on the forewing found in phloxiphagus. H. oregonica is smaller and darker.

Genitalia:

Across the US and S. Canada. (2)

Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.

Wooded edges, meadows, and other open areas

Most records are from March through October. (2)

Adults are reported to be both nocturnal and diurnal in activity, and while most often are taken at lights, may be found feeding and ovipositing during the day. Like other species of the genus, the larvae feed on the flowering parts and seeds of the host.

Life cycle images:

larva; larva; larva; pupa; adult

Grote(1), A.R. & C.T.Robinson 1867. Descriptions of American Lepidoptera. Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 1: 187.

Moth Photographers Group

Pacific Northwest Moths

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