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Species Phigalia denticulata - Toothed Phigalia - Hodges#6659

Toothed Phigalia Moth - Hodges #6659 - Phigalia denticulata - male moth3 - Phigalia denticulata - male Toothed Phigalia, #6659 - Phigalia denticulata Moth - Phigalia denticulata - male #6659 - Phigalia denticulata? - Phigalia denticulata - male Toothed Phigalia Moth - Hodges #6659 - Dorsal  - Phigalia denticulata Moth to porch light  - Phigalia denticulata Moth to porch light - Phigalia denticulata - 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 Phigalia
Species denticulata (Toothed Phigalia - Hodges#6659)
Hodges Number
6659
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Phigalia denticulata Hulst, 1900
Phylogenetic sequence # 196675
Size
Wingspan: (1)
♂ 30-37 mm.
♀ 2 mm. (vestigial wings).
Identification
Adult male: forewing mottled gray with thin black wavy lines; PM line sharply-toothed near costa, bulging inward above inner margin where it usually approaches median line
Hindwing light gray with toothed median line and diffuse speckling; female has vestigial wings and cannot fly.
Range
Texas to Florida(2) and north to Iowa and Massachusetts.(3), (2)
Ontario. (3)
Moth Photographers Group - large map with some distribution data.
Habitat
Wooded areas; adult males attracted to light.
Season
Most records are from January to May and October to December. (3)
Food
Larval host unknown but probably leaves of hardwood trees. (2)
Remarks
Often confused with Phigalia strigataria; Can be separated by the following:

In denticulata, a very distinct dark “tooth” is located on the M1 vein where it comes off of the discal cell. This is seen as the “3rd tooth” from the costa, evenly spaced along the PM line of denticulata. In strigataria, this marking is either absent (giving the appearance of a gap between two pairs of “teeth”) or greatly reduced (only being about a third the length of the larger tooth beside it), even sometimes appearing as simply a diffuse black spot. See following image for visual.
See Also
Small Phigalia (Phigalia strigataria) has a less-mottled forewing, and a less-toothed and straighter PM line
Half-Wing (Phigalia titea) has a PM line that is not toothed near the costa
(compare images of all three species)
Print References
(1)
(2)
Internet References
adult images (Larry Line, Maryland)
presence in New York; list (Olive Natural Heritage Society, New York)
Works Cited
1.A revision of the New World Bistonini, (Lepidoptera, Geometridae).
Frederick H. Rindge. 1975. American Museum of Natural History 156(2):.
2.Arthropods of Florida and Neighboring Land Areas: Lepidoptera of Florida
J.B. Heppner. 2003. Florida Department of Agriculture 17(1): 1-670.
3.North American Moth Photographers Group