Species Hesperumia sulphuraria - Sulphur Moth - Hodges#6431

6431

Hesperumia sulphuraria Packard, 1873

Forewing length 15- 18 mm. (1)

Adult - Most are primarily yellow, but a small portion has a large brown patch or markedly dark ante and postmedial bands. Rare individuals completely infuscated with brown scaling (1). Rindge's description follows: Forewings varying from cream colored to bright yellow; maculation extremely variable, with wings varying from immaculate, to having cross lines represented by either small dots or broad lines, to having part or entire median area more or less completely brown; discal spot usually present, dark brown, round or elliptical, large, 1 to 2 mm. wide and 2 mm. long, with some pale scaling medially; t. a. line, when present, arising on costa one-fourth distance from base, outwardly curved into cell, then going more or less at right angle to inner margin; median shade line, when present, arising near middle of costa and extending to discal spot, curving basad and thence to inner margin; t. p. line, when present, arising on costa threefourths distance from base, slightly concave to vein M1, then weakly S-shaped to inner margin, tending to have line thickened or outwardly dentate on veins; s. t. line absent; terminal line absent or weakly represented, pale brown; fringe varying from being concolorous with wing to dark brown. Hind wings white or pale grayish white, some suffused with yellow distally, and having a few scattered brown scales; maculation absent in most specimens, but brown postdiscal line sometimes partially represented; discal dot and terminal line absent; fringe concolorous with wing or slightly darkened (1) [Randy Hardy]

Specimen identified by DNA analysis:

Northwest Territories and British Columbia east across Canada to Nova Scotia and south to California, Arizona, New Mexico, western South Dakota, Missouri, and Virginia. Uncommon in the east, common in the west. (1) [Randy Hardy]

Adults fly from April to mid-August, most common in June and July (1)

wide variety of woody trees and shrubs, including broadleafs and conifers, with a preference to rosaceous plants.(1) [Randy Hardy]

One BugGuide contributor successfully raised the caterpillar to adult on Ceanothus megacarpus HERE.

passes winter as egg (1)

Larva:

Hesperumia fumosaria

Speranza amboflava

Speranza sulphurea

Powell, J.A. & P.A. Opler, 2009. Moths of Western North America. University of California Press. plate 28, fig. 16; p. 209. (1)

Rindge, F.H., 1974. A revision of the moth genus Hesperumia (Lepidoptera, Geometridae). American Museum Novitates 2561: 1-24. (2)

Moth Photographers Group (3)

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD) (4)