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Species Erannis tiliaria - Linden Looper - Hodges#6665

Linden Looper - Erannis tiliaria Moth - Erannis tiliaria Geometridae: Synaxis or Lambdina or ? - Erannis tiliaria moth - Erannis tiliaria Geometridae: Erannis tiliaria - Erannis tiliaria - male Linden Looper - Erannis tiliaria - male Caterpillar - Erannis tiliaria Erannis tiliaria - male
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 Geometroidea (Geometrid and Swallowtail Moths)
Family Geometridae (Geometrid Moths)
Subfamily Ennominae
Tribe Bistonini
Genus Erannis
Species tiliaria (Linden Looper - Hodges#6665)
Hodges Number
6665
Other Common Names
Winter Moth
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Erannis tiliaria (Harris, 1841)
* phylogenetic sequence #196825
Numbers
Two Erannis species are found in North America north of Mexico
Size
Wingspan of males is 32-42 mm. (1)
FWL ≈ 17-25mm (2)
females are wingless(1)
Identification
Male: FW unicolorous yellowish brown, brown, or pale ochraceous salmon ● May have darker brown bands, basad of AM and distad of PM ● FW display considerable variability in color and degree of maculation ● HW pale grayish white, more or less evenly covered with widely spaced pale, grayish brown scales. (2)
Female: Wingless ● Head with black and white antennae ● Abdomen above tending to have two irregular longitudinal bands, with lateral spotting smaller than on dorsal bands ● Female's body tends to be rather variable in the size and number of the black spots. (2)
Range
Alberta to Nova Scotia, south to Missouri, Georgia, Utah and Texas. Has disappeared from many of the eastern portions of its range in the past 20 years.
Season
Flight period from late August into early December. Most specimens have been caught during October and November. (2)
Food
Deciduous trees, including apple, ash, beech, birch, elm, linden, maple, oak, poplar, Prunus and Ribes. (3)
Life Cycle
Overwinter as eggs(4)
Female crawl up the tree trunks and deposit their eggs singly or in small groups in bark crevices.(4)
One generation per year.(4)

larva; larva; spent pupa; adult male; adult female
Remarks
Female fall cankerworms and Operophtera winter moths are also wingless.
See Also
Erannis vancouverensis
Internet References
Moth Photographers Group - range map, photos of living and pinned adults.
Moth Photographers Group - pinned adult specimen and related species.
BOLD - Barcode of Life Data Systems - species account with collection map and photos of pinned adults.
E. H. Strickland Museum - detailed description of species
Works Cited
1.Peterson Field Guides: Eastern Moths
Charles V. Covell. 1984. Houghton Mifflin Company.
2.A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).
Frederick H. Rindge. 1975. American Museum of Natural History 156(2):.
3.Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America
David Beadle and Seabrooke Leckie. 2012. Houghton Mifflin.
4.Eastern Forest Insects
Whiteford L. Baker. 1972. U.S. Department of Agriculture · Forest Service.