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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) » Hadenini » Polia » Purple Arches - Hodges#10280 (Polia purpurissata)

Species Polia purpurissata - Purple Arches - Hodges#10280

Classification · Hodges Number · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Season · Food · Internet References
Purple Arches - Polia purpurissata Purple Arches 5th Instar Larva - Polia purpurissata Polia purpurissata
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 Hadenini
Genus Polia
Species purpurissata (Purple Arches - Hodges#10280)
Hodges Number
10280
Explanation of Names
PURPURISSATA: from the Latin "purpura" (purple); probably a refrence to the light purplish-gray color on the forewing
Numbers
common northward; uncommon or rare in some parts of range (e.g. ranked Special Concern in Ohio)
Size
wingspan 40-55 mm
Identification
forewing purplish-gray with brown shading, especially around narrow, strongly-curved reniform spot; lines blackish, double, variably distinct; blackish shading on inside of ST line, heaviest toward anal angle
hindwing grayish-brown, darker at outer margin; fringe white
[description by Charles Covell]
Range
Yukon (and Alaska?) and Northwest Territories to Nova Scotia, south in the east to Maryland and West Virginia, and south in the west to New Mexico, Arizona, California
Habitat
acidic bogs where food plants grow, boreal forest, and Ponderosa Pine forests in the west; adults may be attracted to light.
City gardens, with birch, in at least southern New Brunswick
Season
adults fly from July to September
Food
larvae feed on leaves of alder, birch, Bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata), blueberry, Choke Cherry, deerberry, snowberry, sweetfern, willow
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group (MPG)
Pacific Northwest Moths
Barcode of Life (BOLD)
pinned adult image [by Jeff Miller] plus description, habitat, food plants (Macromoths of Northwest Forests and Woodlands; USGS)
pinned adult image [by John Glaser, Maryland] plus food plants and habitat (Larry Line, Mostly Moths of Maryland)
pinned adult image of subspecies crydina and other info (California Dept. Food and Agriculture)
pinned adult image (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)
US distribution map (Moths of North America; USGS)
North American distribution; PDF doc text description of range (J.D. Lafontaine and D.M. Wood, Butterflies and Moths of the Yukon)
Contributed by Robin McLeod on 29 October, 2005 - 4:32pm
Additional contributions by Tony-2, Steve Morris
Last updated 25 December, 2022 - 10:31am

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