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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Besma quercivoraria - Oak Besma - Hodges#6885

Oak Besma - Besma quercivoraria - female Oak Besma Moth - Besma quercivoraria Oak Besma - Besma quercivoraria Moth - Besma quercivoraria - male Moth on chain - Besma quercivoraria - male Besma quercivoraria Oak Besma - Besma quercivoraria - male Moth - Besma quercivoraria
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Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
Superfamily Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Ennominae
Tribe Ourapterygini
Genus Besma
Species quercivoraria (Oak Besma - Hodges#6885)
Hodges Number
6885
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Besma quercivoraria (Guenée, [1858])
Metanema quercivoraria Guenée, [1858]
Explanation of Names
Specific name means "oak-eater."
Size
Wingspan 27-41 mm. (1)
Identification
Adult: sexually dimorphic - female forewing pale tan with fine straight PM line, scalloped subterminal line (sometimes absent), and sometimes diffuse gray spot near anal angle; male forewing has brownish-orange or gray shading beyond PM line; wing veins darker than ground color on all wings; black discal dot may be present or absent on forewing and hindwing; all wings have pointed projection mid-way along outer margin in both sexes.
Larva: a twig mimic - body green, brown, or tan with conspicuous reddish or darkened thoracic and abdominal swellings; head reddish-brown, flattened and sloping; vertex somewhat lobed to either side, lobes often bearing pale triangular area, widest behind; second thoracic segment conspicuously swollen; second abdominal segment with small subspiracular and ventral warts; third segment bearing conspicuous lateral and dorsal swellings, and sixth segment with dorsal warts; subtle longitudinal wrinkle forward of spiracle. [adapted from description by David Wagner and Valerie Giles]
Genitalia:
Range
Across southern Canada (Newfoundland to British Columbia) and all of United States except California.
Habitat
Deciduous and mixed woodlands; adults are nocturnal and come to light.
Season
Adults fly from April to September in the south (1); May to August in Ontario; late May to July in Alberta.
larvae present from May to October.
Food
Larvae feed on leaves of oak, elm, poplar, willow, white spruce (Picea glauca) (1), and mostly paper birch (Betula papyrifera) in southern Canada.
Life Cycle
Two generations per year; overwinters as a pupa.
See Rupert (1944) for rearing information and description of life stages. (2)
Mated pair; larva; adult
See Also
McGuffin (1987) found no apparent morphological differences between adult Besma quercivoraria and B. endropiaria, but in eastern North America quercivoraria produces two annual broods and endropiaria produces one (Wagner et al, 2001).
Synaxis cervinaria forewing lacks scalloped subterminal line, wings veins are paler than ground color, and species occurs only in the west.
Hemlock Looper (Lambdina fiscellaria) forewing lacks scalloped subterminal line and flies in the fall
Horned Spanworm forewing has double PM line and lacks subterminal line.
Print References
Covell, p. 370, plate #53, 19 & 20 (1)
McGuffin, W.C. 1987. Guide to the Geometridae of Canada (Lepidoptera): II. Subfamily Ennominae, 4. 182 pp.
Wagner, D.L., D.L. Ferguson, T.L. McCabe, and R.C. Reardon. 2001. Geometroid Caterpillars of Northeastern and Appalachian Forests. 239 pp.
Works Cited
1.Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America
Charles V. Covell, Jr. 2005.
2. A new species of Lambdina, and notes on two species of Besma (Lepidoptera, Geometridæ, Ennominæ).
Laurence Remington Rupert. 1944. Journal of the New York Entomological Society 52(4): 329-332; Pl.11.