Species Prochoerodes forficaria - Hodges#6981

6981

Prochoerodes forficaria (Guenée, [1858])

Metanema forficaria Guenée, [1858]

Subspecies:

Prochoerodes forficaria catenulata Grote, 1883.

Prochoerodes forficaria combinata McDunnough, 1940.

FORFICARIA: from the Latin "forfex" (a pair of shears) - forficate means "having a deep fork, as the tail of a swallow"; I'm not sure how this relates to P. forficaria

wingspan 35-44 mm

forewing falcate, light tan to orangish-brown with or without blackish speckling and shading; AM line wavy, PM line slightly concave for most of length, with sharply-pointed concave bend near costa (similar to but not as pronounced as the Curve-toothed Geometer); in dark individuals, pale wing veins contrast against ground color

hindwing similarly colored but with irregular or wavy PM line; outer margin angular with shallow point near middle; small black discal spots on all wings

British Columbia to California, east to New Mexico and Colorado

Curve-toothed Geometer (Eutrapela clemataria) has a straight PM line on hindwing and forewing, a longer sharper "tooth" in PM line near costa of forewing, a wavy hindwing margin, and does not occur west of Saskatchewan (compare images of both species)

Large Maple Spanworm (Prochoerodes lineola) has a straight PM line on hindwing and forewing, and its geographic range does not overlap that of P. forficaria (see comparison images and Canadian distribution of both species)

Prochoerodes amplicineraria forewing has a white sinuate PM line and a dark ST line that follows the contour of the outer margin (compare images of both species)

Guénée, A. 1957. Uranides et Phalénites 1. Histoire naturelle des insectes; spécies général des lépidoptères. 9: 172

McDunnough, J. 1940. New North American Geometridae with notes, III. The Canadian Entomologist. 72: 90-103.

Moth Photographers Group (MPG)

Barcode of Life (BOLD)

pinned adult images (Bruce Walsh, Moths of Southeastern Arizona)